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The Author in Cossack Costume 



ESCAPE FROM 

SIBERIAN EXILE 

By 

yOHN GODFREY JACQUES 

in collaboration nxjiih 
ADELAIDE D. WELLMAN 



PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING ASSN. 

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA 

Kansas City, Mo. St. Paul, Minn. Portland, Ore. 

Brookfield, 111. Cristobal, Canal Zone 



-^r(<^ 



,<D3 



Copyright, 1921, by 

Pacific Press Publishing Assn. 

Mountain View, California 



FEB 21 i'^?! 

0)CI.A608791 



INTRODUCTION 

The complete story of the sufferings of hu- 
manity because of the great world war can never 
be written. Now and then there comes to us a 
record of individual experiences which gives 
something of an idea of the intensity of human 
passions, and of the hopes and fears and suffer- 
ings of the world, during those awful years. 
Such a story is this. 

The hero of this story is a young Russian 
evangelist of a Protestant "sect." At the out- 
break of the war, the priests of the Greek 
Church, under cover of insuring greater security 
to the state, took occasion to wreak vengeance 
on those who had dared to teach the people any 
other way than that of the established church. 
Along with many others, our author was ban- 
ished, being sent to the most northern penal 
station of western Siberia. 

The terrible prisons en route; the contact with 
the worst of criminals ; the fellowship with other 
religious prisoners; the surveillance of tyranni- 
cal priests; the sojourn in the lonely forests of 
the far north with hardened criminals and in 
proximity to wild tribes; the meeting with a 
brother minister in the faith who was likewise 
an exile, with only a few words in passing; the 
sudden decision to break for liberty; the hasty 

(7) 



8 INTRODUCTION 

nocturnal visit home ; the six thousand mile flight 
across Siberia; the perilous and painful journey 
on foot through Manchuria, over frozen snows, 
with no guide but the twinkling stars, walking 
at one time for thirty hours, with torn feet, 
without rest; the journey to Shanghai; the voy- 
age across the Pacific, with a narrow escape from 
becoming a prisoner of war, — all this makes the 
story a most adventurous and thrilling one. 

In reading this book, one cannot fail to get 
a glimpse of the great warfare that is constantly 
waged between the forces of darkness and light, 
between superstition and enlightenment, be- 
tween tyranny and true democracy. The as- 
sumption of spiritual control and the coercion of 
men's consciences by ignorant and even drunken 
priests, cannot but impress the reader with the 
utter wickedness of the old regime in Russia, 
and of any system where the state assumes con- 
trol of religion. 

There is also a golden thread of God's care 
and overruling providence running through this 
story. The escape, a soldier's assistance offered 
in a time of greatest perplexity, the "chance" 
meeting of a boy late at night in a great city, 
who proved to belong to the same "sect," when 
there was no other who could shelter the fleeing 
exile, and many other such things that seemed 
to "happen" at just the right time, cannot but 



INTRODUCTION 9 

impress one that God hears the cry of His chil- 
dren in their distress and answers them. "This 
poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and 
saved him out of all his troubles." Psalm 34 : 6. 
We heartily commend this book to all English- 
speaking young people, and pray that it may 
inspire in those who read it such a love for 
truth, that they too may be willing to suffer, if 
need be, rather than disobey God. 

M. E. Kern, 

General Secretary Young People's 
Society of Missionary Volunteers. 



CONTENTS 

I. What Liberty Meant in Imperial Russia 17 

II. In the Clutch op the Russian Bear . . 37 

III. Banishment 55 

IV. A Petition to the Czarina 69 

V. On the Siberian Border 85 

VI. Semi-Freedom 95 

VII. An Exile Station 105 

VIII. The "Arrested" Testament 115 

IX. A Penal Island 133 

X. A Favor from the Czar 145 

XI. Looking Toward Europe 155 

XIL A "Wolffs Passport" 173 

XIII. The Beginning of a Perilous Journey . 183 

XIV. In Disguise 189 

XV. Hiding 205 

XVI. A Futile Attempt at Flight .... 215 

XVII. Afoot and Alone 221 

XVIII. Encountering Russian Guards .... 243 

XIX. A Happy Transition 263 

XX. A Prisoner of War 271 

XXI. Like a Dream 281 

(11) 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

The Author in Cossack Costume . . . Frontispiece 
Map Showing the Location of Towns Mentioned in 

the Narrative 16 

Odessa 19 

In the Crimea 21 

A Caucasian Mother 26 

A Pass in the Caucasus Mountains 30 

The Black Sea Port of Sebastopol 33 

The Finest Cathedral in the Caucasus .... 39 

Under Arrest 41 

A Russian Family Drinking Their Accustomed Bev- 
erage — Tea 45 

A Glimpse of Odessa 49 

One of the Least Heavily Shackled Exiles ... 57 

A View of the City of Kiev 59 

Devil's Bridge, in the Caucasus Mountains ... 63 

General View of the Kremlin, Moscow .... 67 

The Largest Bell in the World, Moscow .... 68 

An Exile in Solitary Confinement 71 

A Fine Specimen of Muscovite Architecture ... 74 

"Holy" Moscow 76 

Tolstoy 78 

Church of St. Basil, Moscow 81 

Characteristically Russian 86 

The Great Market of Moscow 89 

Tomsk University 91 

Sleds Used to Transport Exiles ...... 97 

A Peasant Abode in Northern Siberia .... 101 

A Siberian Peasant Woman 106 

An Ice Jam on a Siberian River . . . . . . 108 

Not Handsome, but Happy Ill 

On the Georgian Road 113 

A Russian Family 117 

A Typical Peasant Home in Russia . . . . . 119 

A Hollow Log Fishing Canoe on a Siberian River . 123 

Weeping, Not Laughing 127 

A Russian Village Post Office 131 

A Fur Hunter in the Boundless Forests of Siberia . 135 

Katun River, a Tributary of the Ob 138 

A Siberian Greek Orthodox Priest 142 

(13) 



14 ILLUSTRATIONS 

Nicholas II and His Family . ^ 147 

Drying Bear Skins 150 

Scenery Along the Katun . 153 

A Siberian Family 157 

Tiflis, Capital of Transcaucasia 161 

Railway Station at Omsk 165 

Hide Market of Kazan Tartars 167 

Old-Time Farming Methods 171 

On the Volga 176 

Mount Ushba 179 

A Railroad Bridge Near Ufa 185 

Vladivostok 191 

Railway Station at Irkutsk 193 

Boating on Lake Baikal . 195 

Railway Station at the Boundary Between Siberia 

and Manchuria 199 

A Mountain Road in the Altai Region .... 202 
Doctor Attending an Exile Who Has Fainted Under 

the Knout . 207 

Street Scene in Harbin, Manchuria 210 

A Native of the Far Northern Province of Yakutsk, 

with His Saddle Pony 217 

A Makeshift Tent on the Russian Steppes . . . 222 

The Troitzko-Sergiev Monastery 227 

A Manchurian Convict 233 

A Peasant Family 237 

Caucasian Tribesmen 241 

A Mongolian Plainsman 248 

One of the Scenes of Greatest Danger .... 253 

A Village Priest 255 

A Small Portion of the Nizhni Novgorod Fair . . 258 

A Chinese City Street . 261 

Jumping the Rope 268 

The Old City of Mukden 269 

A Section of China's Great Wall 275 

Golden Gate, "the Gateway to Freedom" .... 279 

Nicholas Romanov, the Last of the Czars, in Exile . 284 

The Ancient City of Tobolsk, the Biblical Tubal . 285 

On Pacific Union College Farm 287 



CHAPTER I 



WHAT LIBERTY MEANT IN 
IMPERIAL RUSSIA 

THE giant acacia tree that shaded the 
doorway of my grandfather's home in 
the Causasus, shook its yellowing leaves in 
the autumn breeze like myriads of tiny ban- 
ners, as I passed out from beneath its shel- 
tering boughs on a September day the year 
before the beginning of the great war. 

In the adjacent chapel — which stood on 
my grandfather's land — a general meeting 
had been in progress for some days past. It 
was attended not only by delegates from dif- 
ferent parts of the Caucasus, but also by 
ministers from other sections of Russia; for 
this little town of Alexandrodar was to some 
extent a center for our work in that country, 
being one of the first places where a church 
of our faith had been organized in the land 
of the czars. My parents, when they were 
young people, became charter members of 
that church; hence I was reared in the faith 
we all love. 

At this meeting, request had been made 
that I go and assist our minister located in 

(17) 



18 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

the Black Sea city of Odessa. The few years 
that had passed since I finished my school 
course, I had spent chiefly in evangelistic 
work in the Caucasus; but consent was given 
to the proposed transfer, and I was starting 
for a brief visit to my father's home, a hun- 
dred miles distant, before setting out on the 
longer journey. 

When, after spending a day with my par- 
ents, I bade them good-by, it was well that 
we did not foresee the circumstances under 
which we should next meet. 

Instead of taking the ordinary railway 
route to Odessa, I chose to go by steamer 
across the Black Sea, as I hoped to be able 
thus to see my only brother, who was in mili- 
tary service at a post near the shore. I could 
also, in this way, gratify a long cherished de- 
sire to get a glimpse of the beautiful Crimea, 
the Switzerland of Russia. 

Eventually reaching the port from which 
I should take passage, I sailed away from the 
shores of my beloved Caucasus. To my deep 
regret, I was unable to obtain the expected 
interview with my brother. A matter of less 
serious disappointment was the fact that the 
steamer passed some of the most romantic 




Odessa 

Stairway leading from one of the principal streets down 

to the shore of the Black Sea. 

(19) 



20 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

portions of the Crimean coast at night and 
consequently I did not have a view of them. 
To compensate myself, as far as possible, for 
this loss, I was early on deck next morning. 
The vessel kept close to shore all day, and 
a delightful panorama moved continuously 
before us. 

With evening and darkness came also rain, 
in such torrents as to suggest an attempt to 
raise the sea's level. I found a quiet place 
in the deck cabin, and there busied myself 
writing English. From my childhood, the 
study of that language had possessed an ex- 
traordinary charm for me, though I could 
not have explained why. When only about 
eight or ten years old, I saved money to buy 
a large Russian-English dictionary, and that 
volume I conned most persistently. Doubt- 
less you would hardly have known that it was 
your mother tongue I was trying to speak; 
yet those boyish struggles were not without 
reward when afterwards, under more auspi- 
cious conditions, I essayed to master the lan- 
guage that has become to me a symbol of 
much that is best in life. 

But let us resume our Black Sea voyage. 
Later in the evening, as I was crossing the 




In the Crimea 



(21) 



22 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

upper deck in the half darkness, I came into 
collision with a young man whom I was thus 
brought to recognize as a former schoolmate 
of mine. He had been for some years a ma- 
rine, and that accounts for his preference for 
the wind-swept deck rather than the cabin. 

Not many years before, through the in- 
fluence of Seventh-dav Adventist friends, this 
young man had been led to accept our faith; 
and he had since endured great hardships — 
for to be a Christian in Russia, except in the 
legal sense, implied persecution in those not 
remote times. 

When, in medieval days, western Europe 
was emerging from barbarism and adopting 
Christianity, Russia, not to be outdone, sent 
commissioners to various countries, to select 
a new religion for her. The choice fell to 
Greek Catholicism, and priests were engaged 
to go from Constantinople to teach the Rus- 
sian people the forms of that church. 

Form and force were predominant features 
of the religion acquired by the great nation of 
the north, as was indicated by the practice in 
vogue in those early days, of driving large 
companies into the water and compelling 
them to receive the rite of baptism. 



LIBERTY IN IMPERIAL RUSSIA 23 

Greek Catholicism was the only Christian- 
ity known to Russia until the time of the mis- 
sionary awakening of the last century, when 
some of the evangelical churches began activi- 
ties there. 

That the state church had lost none of its 
dictatorial character in the course of the years, 
was often demonstrated before the rule of the 
czars ceased. Near the beginning of the pres- 
ent century, religious liberty for all the "sec- 
tarians" was announced; but in reality they 
had less liberty thereafter than before, when 
they depended upon secrecy for safety. 

The old Russian conception of religious 
liberty did not include liberty to express 
one's convictions. Though the imperial gov- 
ernment had adopted what was supposed to 
be a very liberal policy in reference to the 
"sects," yet, like the Jewish leaders in apos- 
tolic times, it required that they should not 
"speak at all nor teach" of their faith. 

The reply in the two cases was the same: 
"We cannot but speak the things which we 
have seen and heard." Acts 4: 18, 20. 

The first Seventh-day Adventist in Russia, 
so it is recorded — an aged man who had been 
to the United States, where he learned our 



24 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

faith — was arrested, after his return to his 
native land, on the accusation that he was 
teaching doctrines not in harmony with those 
of the Greek Catholic Church. 

This man stuttered so badly that he could 
scarcely talk, and to accuse him of conduct- 
ing any kind of propaganda seemed quite 
ridiculous. 

He had industriously spread our doctrines; 
but his method was such that he appeared to 
be the one taught instead of being the teacher. 
He would ask some one to read to him, indi- 
cating what he wanted to hear read — a text 
of Scripture or other matter bearing on "pres- 
ent truth"; and thus both the reader and any 
who might be within hearing learned the 
grounds for our belief. 

An effort was made to have the old man 
exiled; but the judge, for very shame, would 
not pronounce sentence against him. His 
affliction served as a safeguard. 

When I reached Odessa, among the first 
persons I met was one of our members who, 
a short time before, had concluded a two-year 
term of imprisonment for the Word's sake. 
His rapid aging during those two years, and 
the air of constant apprehension that still 



LIBERTY IN IMPERIAL RUSSIA 25 

clung to him, gave a hint of what Russian 
jail life was. I learned more about it later. 

I was soon called to go with one of our 
ministers to a village some distance from 
Odessa. There were a number of candidates 
for baptism ; but to administer that ordinance, 
we must needs go at night to an isolated place 
outside the town, even choosing a dark and 
stormy night, in order the more effectually to 
avoid being observed. Experience had proved 
that all these precautions were necessary. 

In at least one instance, in the Caucasus, 
a convert who had been baptized into our 
church, was forcibly rebaptized by priests of 
the ''Orthodox" Church — after the medieval 
fashion. Others suffered much more severe 
punishment. 

At another town that we visited on this 
same tour, a child of one of our members had 
died the day before, and there was much per- 
plexity as to the disposition to be made of the 
body, the local priest having refused permis- 
sion for interment in the public cemetery. 
After our arrival, it was learned that the 
priest had gone from home. Then the rela- 
tives of the dead child quickly and quietly 
proceeded with the burial. Not infrequently, 




A Caucasian Mother 
She carries not only her babe, but also its cradle. 

(26) 



LIBERTY IN IMPERIAL RUSSIA 27 

bigots of the state church disinterred our 
dead; and often only by appeal to the civil 
authorities could we secure a place for burial. 

At still another town, a young man and 
his wife had become interested in the Bible, 
and had been attending our meetings. The 
priest, learning of this, came one day to their 
home to remonstrate with them; and the 
young man, to justify their course, called at- 
tention to numerous scriptures that show our 
teachings to be sound, and those of the Greek 
Church the contrary. Thereupon the priest 
struck the man mercilessly with his waU^ing 
stick. The terrified wife seized the stick from 
the hands of the priest, in an effort to defend 
her husband; but the priest then clutched the 
heavy crucifix that was suspended from his 
neck, and with it, beat his victim over the 
head. The man died a Tew weeks afterwards, 
in consequence of this abuse. 

After the "sects" began missionary opera- 
tions in Russia, an organization was formed 
that was often called "the Black Society." 
It was made up of zealots of the "Ortho- 
dox" Church, whose alleged purpose was the 
"protection" of that church against "spiritual 
degeneracy" and loss of members. 



28 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

This society was specially active in Odessa. 
Seldom could we hold a meeting without 
having several of these disturbers of the peace 
as unbidden guests, and it was their custom 
to interrupt the services by noisy outcries. 
They tried also to excite controversy, and 
thus produce confusion. They often sent 
women to act as spies on us. These feigned 
sympathy with us, but listened for any word 
that might be construed as an offense against 
the state church. 

At a gathering of Baptists near our place 
of worship in that city, some of these men 
were asked to leave ; and as they did not com- 
ply with the request, they were led from the 
building. One of them then loudly asserted 
that he had been kicked out by the ''sectari- 
ans," and he sanctimoniously added that thus 
had Jesus been treated. In this way, he 
caused great excitement. The police were 
attracted to the scene, and much trouble re- 
sulted for the Baptists. 

These ' 'zealous brethren' ' — so termed — 
came to our services in such numbers that 
their testimony would suffice to condemn any 
of our speakers they might accuse. Often 
the leaders of our meetings were arrested at 



LIBERTY IN IMPERIAL RUSSIA 29 

the instigation of these men, the most com- 
mon charge being that of blasphemy against 
God and the church; and in case of convic- 
tion, the penalty generally was one or two 
years in jail. There were always some of our 
people under arrest or in jail in Russia. 

But the more vehemently our work was 
opposed, the more persons seemed impelled 
to investigate the anathematized doctrines. 
These persons were surprised to hear, in our 
meetings, only the pure teachings of the 
Word; and not a few chose to unite with us. 
This enraged the priests; and they took re- 
venge, whenever they could, by causing the 
arrest and imprisonment of our workers. 

Still, happily, there were a few men in offi- 
cial position, in both state and church, who 
stood for justice and equity. - When one of 
our ministers in Odessa was arrested on the 
charge of ''reviling God and the church," the 
open-eyed old judge, perceiving the ground- 
lessness of the accusation, reprimanded the 
prosecutors, and acquitted the accused man. 

Personally I met a similar spirit of fair- 
ness more than once. In a Cossack town 
where I held meetings not long before go- 
ing to Odessa, partisans of the state church 




A Pass in the Caucasus Mountains 
The horsemen are Cossacks — and all Cossacks are horse- 
men, performing most astounding equestrian feats. 

(30) 



LIBERTY IN IMPERIAL RUSSIA 31 

raised a disturbance, and haled me before the 
magistrate; but when I stated the circum- 
stances to him, he said that I should be al- 
lowed to defend my teachings publicly, then 
the priests should have opportunity to refute 
what I said, if they could do so. 

The people gathered at the church to hear; 
and the magistrate himself presided, seeing 
to it that I received just treatment. The 
priests objected to my going on the speaker's 
platform, as that place, they said, was holy, 
and my presence would desecrate it ; but there 
was no other point from which I could be 
heard well, and the priests were required to 
grant me equal advantages with themselves. 

Not only did the magistrate thus come to 
my rescue in this crisis, but he also gave me 
liberty to continue my work in the town; and 
later a church of our faith was organized 
there. 

In another town in the Caucasus, as I was 
speaking to a small company of Bible stu- 
dents in a private building, a tall priest en- 
tered, and questioned my right to address an 
audience. In reply, I read Revelation 22: 
17, "Let him that heareth say. Come." The 
priest declared that the text had no bearing 



32 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

on the matter in hand; whereupon the people 
present — most of them his own parishioners 
— called to me: ''Read it to him again! He 
doesn't understand." As he still denied the 
application of the scripture, the people once 
more called, "Read it again!" 

His protests were at last silenced for that 
time; but at our next meeting, two policemen 
appeared, and each took hold of one of my 
arms, as if to lead me away. I reminded 
them that the law forbade the interruption of 
a religious service, whether that service were 
lawful or otherwise; and finally they con- 
sented to wait till the meeting had ended. 
At its close, I voluntarily preceded them to 
police headquarters. 

There, by way of explaining the situation, 
I gave a resume of the offending discourse. 
Some priests who were present urged that I 
be taken away, lest I make converts of the 
attaches of the place. Next I was taken to a 
police station; and the sergeant, after hear- 
ing the case, ordered me to leave the town, 
else he would send me home by etape — that 
is, with a company of prisoners traveling un- 
der guard — which might signify a sojourn 
of many days in jail on the way. 



IJBERTY IN IMPERIAL RUSSIA 



33 



I returned to the house where our meet- 
ings had been held, and found scores of 
people waiting for me. They begged that I 
explain the Scriptures further to them; and 
regardless of the danger incurred by both 
speaker and hearers, I did so. We were not 
molested again; and one of our older minis- 
ters later joined me there, and baptized a 
group of converts. 

In a city on the Roumanian border, that I 
visited after going to Odessa, I was arrested 
for teaching supposedly heretical doctrines, 
and the books I had with me were seized. I 




The Black Sea Port of Sebastopol 



34 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

was not imprisoned, but had to report at the 
district headquarters each day for a week. 
There I learned that my books had been 
turned over to some of the younger men con- 
nected with the office, for examination as to 
the grievousness of the heresy they contained. 

At any time that the higher officers were 
not present when I called, these young men 
inquired, with much enthusiasm, concerning 
the light they had found in the accused vol- 
umes; and one of them soon afterwards, as a 
result of his reading, accepted our faith. 

Through his influence, the interest in the 
truths we hold became so marked as to arouse 
the priests, and they arranged for a promi- 
nent opponent of the sects to go there and 
combat our teachings. Through the police 
department, an order was sent for me to meet 
this defender of nominal orthodoxy; and I 
could not well refuse to obey. 

I had only enough time to reach the place 
before the hour appointed. As I entered the 
city, the cathedral bell was sounding its call 
to the people to assemble for the contest. I 
did not even know what was demanded of 
me; but I went direct to a priest of the state 
church whom I had previously found to be 



LIBERTY IN IMPERIAL RUSSIA 35 

amiable, and from him I learned that three 
hours each afternoon for three days was to be 
given to the debate — for a debate the priests 
had decided there should be — their chosen 
orator and I to speak alternately for periods 
of twenty minutes each. Mere boy that I 
was, it was expected the weakness of my de- 
fense would convince the people that I was 
in error. But the truth of God is not weak; 
nor did He who has promised to be with those 
who are called to speak in behalf of the gos- 
pel, fail me in those trying days. 

The discussion was held in the courthouse, 
which contained the largest auditorium in the 
city. This arrangement was made in defer- 
ence to my expressed wish. I did not want 
to speak in the cathedral; for there, I knew, 
the priests would not be willing that I should 
stand where I could be heard easily. 

Written regulations were drawn up, and 
the opposers of the gospel were obliged to 
conform to them, the court officials present 
using their authority on the side of order. 

I was the first speaker; and my presenta- 
tion of the Scriptures did not inspire my an- 
tagonist to eloquence. When his turn came 
to speak, he became greatly confused, and im- 



36 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

plored the people to pray to the icons for 
him; and his last period, he spent almost 
wholly in appeal to these paganish travesties. 

The audience manifested strong feeling, 
some for me, others against me ; and probably 
I should have suffered violence, had not the 
diocesan, at the close of each session, thrown 
his long cloak about me and walked by my 
side. He felt responsible for my safety. 

Notwithstanding the consideration shown 
me at this time, I was forbidden to remain in 
the city, or to return afterwards to instruct 
those who might desire instruction. This 
caused great dissatisfaction on the part of 
many, specially of the young people, and the 
priests had difficulty to quell the commotion. 

Such was liberty in old Russia. 



CHAPTER II 



IN THE CLUTCH OF THE 
RUSSIAN BEAR 

ON a December evening in 1914, it fell to 
me to conduct the service in our chapel 
in Odessa. The theme of the evening's dis- 
course was the grace of Christ. 

There were present in the chapel several 
enemies of the gospel. Hence I requested our 
people to disperse immediately at the close 
of the service, to avoid disturbance; and I 
likewise went directly to my apartment. 

That same night, at half past one o'clock, 
I was awakened by the ringing of my door- 
bell. A cousin who was staying with me 
temporarily, opened the door; and then I 
heard a clanking of swords, which informed 
me that my callers were none other than 
policemen. There were an officer and two 
subordinates. 

I had no doubt as to the object of this 
untimely visit. As an evangelist of a "sect," 
I had been brought frequently into contact 
with the police, and had been arrested a num- 
ber of times. Yet, though such experiences 

(37) 



38 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

in the past had always caused a degree of 
agitation on my part, I felt strangely undis- 
turbed on this occasion. The officer's face 
seemed to me wholly benign in its expression, 
and I greeted him with all the cordiality I 
would feel for an intimate associate. 

He accepted the seat proffered him, his as- 
sistants standing guard at the door; and in 
apology for coming at such an hour, he said 
that he had been at the theater, and the play 
did not end till one o'clock. I well knew that 
he had come late in order to be the surer of 
finding me. My cousin was greatly per- 
turbed at the indications of trouble, but I 
tried to reassure him. 

The officer then exclaimed that it was a 
pity he must do as he did, but that he was 
compelled to ask me to arise and dress, pre- 
paratory to going with him. When I had 
complied with his orders, he suggested that 
I leave my purse and watch, which otherwise 
would be taken from me when I should be 
searched at the police station, but that I take 
a blanket, as a room would be given me there. 
I knew what sort of room that would be. 

Although I comprehended what the events 
now occurring portended for my future, still 




The Finest Cathedral in the Caucasus 

The Russian conquest of the Caucasus was marked by the 

erection of cathedrals, which are therefore termed 

"military cathedrals/' 

(39) 



40 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

those initial hours of the long months of suf- 
fering I was to endure were a time of peace 
and restfulness — I would almost say, of joy; 
and the memory of them was afterwards a 
source of strength to me. 

Before leaving my room, I inquired of the 
officer the cause of my arrest; but he replied 
that he did not know, and he in turn asked 
me what it was. Although I did not know 
what the specific charge against me was, I 
did know that the priests of the state church 
made use of any pretext they could find 
for bringing accusations against "sectarians." 
Since the beginning of the war, taking advan- 
tage of the increased disposition of the civil 
and military authorities to restrict individual 
liberty, they had haled many nonconformist 
ministers into court on the most groundless 
charges. Often, too, a mere suspicion was 
taken as sufficient evidence against an accused 
person, and he was condemned without a trial. 

When my preparations were completed, I 
sought again to comfort my cousin, then ex- 
pressed my readiness to go with the officer. 
The darkness and storm into which I passed 
from my doorway, were typical of what I 
was soon to encounter. 



THE CLUTCH OF THE RUSSIAN BEAR 41 

My custodian, seeing that I was not dis- 
posed to offer resistance, dismissed his men, 
and called a carriage for himself and me. In 



<^'^#=.i 




u Under Arrest 

As an arrested person is conducted through Russian 
streets, with one officer preceding, and another following. 



a few minutes, we were at the police sta- 
tion — a place wholly familiar to me before 
that time. 

One lone officer sat sleeping at the desk in 
the protocol department. I was delivered into 
his charge by my kindly captor, who then 



42 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

went his way. The desk sergeant, irritated at 
being disturbed, crabbedly proceeded to write 
a description of me, and afterwards he sum- 
moned policemen from another room to search 
me. These sleepily performed their task, not 
neglecting to take from me any article that a 
prisoner might use in an attempt at suicide, 
as necktie or suspenders. 

Then, at a signal, a guard appeared. Hav- 
ing received his orders, he took me through 
the building to a rear exit, and thence across 
a small area to a low structure, where we en- 
tered a basement corridor, dark and clammy. 
Along the corridor were iron doors, on each 
of which was chalked a number. I afterwards 
learned that the number indicated how many 
prisoners occupied the cell. 

We stopped at a door that bore a figure 
5, and I was given into the care "of the guard 
of that cell. Inside the cell there was a small 
lamp, which enabled the guard to see the 
inmates when he peered through a tiny orifice 
that he opened for the purpose. He turned 
the lock, lifted the heavy bar, and swung open 
the door; and there rushed out upon me a 
stench that thrust me backward as a violent 
blow would have done. 



THE CLUTCH OF THE RUSSIAN BEAR 43 

The guard pushed me inside, and closed the 
door. For a time, I was overwhelmed by the 
vile odors that filled the cell. But as I became 
somewhat accustomed to these, I saw that 
there were five men crouching on the floor, 
and one of these I recognized as a Baptist 
evangelist who had sometimes attended our 
meetings. Through him, I learned that three 
of the others also were Baptist evangelists or 
church officers, while the fourth was an actor 
who had been arrested as leader in a street 
brawl. These Baptists had been taken into 
custody at almost the same hour as I, and 
they had preceded me to the cell about half 
an hour only. 

The actor was quite hilarious, knowing that 
his imprisonment was for a few days merely; 
but the rest of us had no knowledge of what 
our sentence might be. 

To describe that dungeon fully would not 
be permissible. The room was about six or 
seven feet wide by ten long. There was a 
very small barred window close to the ceiling; 
but it was so obscured by dirt as to afford less 
light by day than the dingy lamp gave at 
night. The mildewed walls dripped water. 
Former occupants of the cell apparently had 



44 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

deliberately planned to make the lot of who- 
ever might be confined there after them, as 
unbearable as possible. Surely no person 
could long survive in that pestilential place. 
For ventilation there was absolutely no pro- 
vision; and of the filth, I cannot speak. 

My courteous cell mates invited me to share 
their couch of stone. Accordingly, I put my 
blanket on the floor, which was ice-cold, and 
sank upon it. As we could not sleep, we 
whiled away the time talking together. One 
of the Baptists, pastor of a large German- 
speaking congregation, could not take part 
in the conversation, as he did not understand 
the Russian language, and none of the others, 
aside from me, spoke German. This man 
was known among the people of his sect 
throughout Russia. 

The morning seemed weeks delayed; and 
when it came, we should hardly have been 
aware of the fact, except that then the feeble 
light of the lamp was extinguished, and we 
could hear the sound of the electric cars in the 
street above. 

Our cell door creaked on its hinges, and the 
guard brought in a pail of hot water, and for 
each of us a little piece of prison bread. My 



HK i \^rmm.- TJi.ar^ flft ^ 


mm. 


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(45) 



46 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

hunger was not sufficient to impel me to eat 
such food, specially in those surroundings. 

I hoped that some of my friends might 
come to me, but none came. The day was 
almost an eternity to me. At noon, there was 
brought in a small serving of vegetable soup; 
and I was then hungry enough to eat. The 
thought occurred to me that the food provided 
would sustain life; but not many days after- 
wards, I discovered that jail fare was much 
poorer than this "rest house" fare. 

In the evening, some food was brought 
for me alone, having been sent by friends. 
Through the watchman, I learned that they 
had tried to get permission to see me, but had 
not succeeded. However, by persistence, they 
prevailed in a measure; and the next morn- 
ing, I was taken to the reception room in the 
police station, and there was allowed to speak 
for a few moments with three of the good 
women of our church, in presence of the as- 
sistant chief of police. Women could secure 
such concessions sometimes when men could 
not, as it was thought that they would be less 
likely to connive at the escape of the prison- 
ers. Brief though this visit was, it greatly 
encouraged me. 



THE CLUTCH OF THE RUSSIAN BEAR 47 

The second night, the demand of my system 
for sleep was so imperative that I could but 
yield to it, notwithstanding the situation. The 
next morning, all the prisoners in the "rest 
house" were taken, under strong guard, into 
the small inclosure at the rear of the police 
station; and there, closely watched by police- 
men, we were privileged to breathe pure air 
for five or ten minutes. Some of the prison- 
ers from other cells evidently found satisfac- 
tion in seeing us in the same position they 
were in, and they boisterously derided us. 

Soon the watch master took his place in the 
doorway of the cell house corridor, and called 
to the policemen to drive us in. As the line 
of prisoners passed him, he told them off one 
by one, pushing some along, kicking others. 

The same morning, our guard informed us 
that the religious prisoners would be trans- 
ferred to the city jail that day. This was 
welcome news. From the time of my arrest, 
I had received intimations of the verdict that 
awaited me, and from that verdict I had no 
hope of escape. But what was inevitable, I 
preferred should not be postponed. Often I 
felt to say. Do with me what you will; but 
what you do, do quickly. 



48 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

Before being sent to the jail, we were taken 
to the court room, and there received sentence, 
although we had had no hearing, nor had we 
even been told what the accusation against us 
was. The sentence was, exile to Siberia. 

The time was to be as long as war condi- 
tions prevailed. This did not mean simply 
while the war lasted, but until the country 
should be restored to normal conditions, which 
we understood might not be till years after 
the close of the war. 

There was little to hope for. I knew that 
prison bars and bared swords would long be 
my guardians. Yet in those early days of 
trial, I realized the constant companionship of 
Jesus. But there remained to be developed 
that patience which must characterize the true 
follower of our Saviour. Often I found com- 
fort in James 1 : 2-4. I was not permitted 
to have my Bible, but that text was one I had 
memorized in previous years. 

It was now time for us to start ; for a party 
of exiles was to be taken from the city jail 
that night, on the way to Siberia, and we were 
to be of the number. 

I was required to leave my blanket at the 
police station, and consequently I should be 




A Glimpse of Odessa 
This is a modern city, as the width of its streets indicates. 



(49) 



50 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

without bed or bedding during the long winter 
journey into the frozen northland. 

As we passed through the streets of Odessa, 
I hoped to catch sight of some of our people, 
but saw none. 

We were led a number of miles outside the 
city, the jails of Russia, for the most part, not 
being located within the city limits. Finally 
we came to a high brick wall, and were halted 
at the massive gate. The leader of the guard 
rapped on the gate; and the watchman inside 
opened it slightly, but on seeing who were out- 
side, closed it again, probably to report to a 
superior for instructions. The captain of the 
guard was impatient to be rid of his charge, 
and he pounded loudly on the gate, while the 
prisoners, shivering in the cold wind, wished 
for the shelter of even a felon's cell. 

Eventually the gate was opened to admit 
us; and then we were subjected to that hu- 
miliating performance, so often afterwards 
repeated, the ''counting of heads." We were 
next taken through a succession of gateways 
in as many high walls surrounding the jail 
buildings, and at last stopped in the receiving 
room. There we were searched — the invari- 
able program when a prisoner enters a Rus- 



THE CLUTCH OF / THE RUSSIAN BEAR 51 

sian jail, and also when he leaves. But the 
treatment here was more humane than that 
we received in any jail later. 

Afterwards our names were entered in a 
book, and then we were searched again, more 
carefully, every portion of our clothing being 
examined. No convict could retain in his pos- 
session a particle of metal, not even so much 
as a needle. Nor was one allowed to keep any 
money, though each could have held in trust 
for him at the office of the jail an amount not 
to exceed about forty cents. Those who were 
citizens of another country could have ten dol- 
lars thus deposited. 

As one of the Baptist ministers was a Ger- 
man citizen, the rest of us turned over to him 
such small sums as we had. With these, dur- 
ing the following weeks, he was able at times 
to purchase, through the watchman, bread and 
a few other articles of food, without which it 
does not seem as if we could have kept alive. 

After the searching, we were taken to an- 
other building. As we passed along the cor- 
ridors, we saw behind the iron gratings the 
most pitiable mortals I had ever beheld — 
ragged, dirty, emaciated, some of them insane. 
As they caught sight of us, they crowded up 



52 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

to the gratings, to see what sort of beings 
their prospective new comrades were. 

A door opened, and in a moment we were 
in the midst of the gaping throng. Besides 
criminals of various classes, and prisoners 
of war, there were several young Russian 
Jews who had returned from France at the 
beginning of the war, to serve their country, 
but had been received as foes rather than pa- 
triots. Some of their original number had 
already met what was generally regarded, by 
victims of the imperial Russian penal system, 
as a friend — death. Those who still survived 
sought means of ending their existence. 

One aged man in particular among the pris- 
oners excited our pity. He was in utter de- 
spair, and must soon have lost his reason. We 
did our utmost to comfort him; and as he 
could not eat the abominable prison food, we 
gave him a remnant we still had of the food 
that had been brought to us in Odessa. He 
regained strength and cheer, and was most 
grateful to us. 

About an hour after our arrival at the 
place, more prisoners came in; and with in- 
expressible joy, I saw among them my former 
fellow worker, Elias Gorelic. Delight at see- 



THE CLUTCH OF THE RUSSIAN BEAR 53 

ing this good friend made me oblivious, for 
the moment, to what his presence there im- 
plied to him. He had been arrested at the 
same hour as I; but his home being in a dif- 
ferent section of the city, he had not been 
taken to the same police station. Other Bap- 
tist prisoners raised our number to nine. 

At noon, attendants brought into the cell 
an immense wooden bowl, containing many 
gallons of thin soup, in which were a few 
small pieces of potato and cabbage and per- 
haps a cupful of millet. They brought also 
smaller bowls and wooden spoons, and under- 
took to dish out some of the food to each per- 
son; but almost before they could begin to do 
so, there was a mad rush for the bits of vege- 
tables, and even for the few grains of millet. 
Some of the prisoners threw themselves upon 
the large bowl, thrusting their filthy hands 
into it, and there was wild screaming and 
fighting, in spite of the attendants' free use 
of cudgel, kicks, and oaths. 

When the liquid that remained was divided 
up, the wretched creatures who had not suc- 
ceeded in getting any of the vegetables fell to 
devouring the stuff as a famished wolf de- 
vours its prey. One of the lunatics so gorged 



54 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

himself with it that he could riot walk. Cer- 
tainly we did not attempt to eat any of it. 

No one could have subsisted on the miser- 
able substitute for food that was"' furnished us, 
except for the coarse, half-baked bread served 
each morning — necessarily only half-baked, 
else it could not have been eaten, it was so 
coarse. 

There were continual quarrels, and not in- 
frequent blows, among the inmates of the cell. 
We tried to persuade them to act like human 
beings, but they appeared almost to have for- 
gotten that they were such. 

On the evening after we reached the jail, 
relatives of some of our company sent food to 
us, though they were not permitted to see us. 
Thus we were supplied with a good supper. 
We shared it with the other prisoners, not 
only as a matter of humanity, but to prevent 
their taking the whole by force. 

As the night approached, a messenger came 
to our cell, and called through the bars the 
names of those who would that night be sent 
farther on their way into exile. Our party 
were among those named, and none of us were 
loath to leave the quarters we then occupied. 



CHAPTER III 



BANISHMENT 

THOSE who were to go were searched 
again; and before this work was finished, 
the clanking of chains was heard, and soon 
the guards were putting shackles upon the 
exiles. Some were secured hand and foot, 
while others had only their hands fettered; 
and the men were then chained in pairs. The 
prisoner next me having been shackled, I was 
awaiting my turn, when word came from the 
captain of the guard, that the religious pris- 
oners should not wear irons. 

All were placed four abreast, the high doors 
swung open, the order was given to march, 
and once more we were in the open air. It 
seemed unspeakably exhilarating to me, al- 
though the cold wind whipped and penetrated 
our insufficient clothing. A torch raised be- 
fore our command, gave to the scene a sug- 
gestion of the picturesque. 

The preceding day, snow had fallen and 
afterwards melted, leaving the ground almost 
impassable. But the soldiers, with unsheathed 
swords, drove us like cattle through the mud 
and the darkness. 

(55) 



56 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

Beside me walked, panting, an aged pris- 
oner of war. He was too weak to keep up 
with the others, and one of the soldiers kicked 
him in the side by way of inducing him to step 
faster. The poor man sank groaning to the 
ground; but the column was not allowed to 
halt, and consequently those behind stumbled 
over him. After a while, he was again put 
upon his feet, and driven forward. 

We observed several persons following us, 
and some of the evangelists recognized them 
as relatives. They were endeavoring to come 
within speaking distance, but were kept back 
by the soldiers' swords. The guard hastened 
our pace to a run. Steam rose from our per- 
spiring bodies. The clang of fetters mingled 
with the cries of the soldiers. 

"Halt!" shouted the captain of the etape.^ 

We were close beside a railway car; and 
we were herded into it, and thrust into a 
barred section. In about an hour, the train 
to which the car was attached moved off. 



* The French word etape has been introduced into the 
Russian language, as into the English, being used to in- 
dicate the quarters where prisoners are lodged when on 
the way into banishment, also a party of exiles traveling 
under guard, and further, their transport from place 
to place. 




One of the Least Heavily Shackled Exiles 
Many a Russian has worn a convict^s chains simply be- 
cause he would not let his soul be chained. 

(57) 



58 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

Most of the prisoners were smoking, and 
this made the air of the car suffocating. We 
traveled thus the remainder of that night, all 
the next day, and till late in the second eve- 
ning, when we arrived at Kiev. I was then 
quite ill. 

We were transferred from the railway car 
to a street car, which had been constructed 
expressly for prisoners, having no windows, 
and but one door. I was knocked down in the 
crowd, and I thought I should be crushed 
before I could get up. 

The old car creaked threateningly, and ap- 
peared ready to give way beneath its load. 
That, I knew, would mean death to some, but 
I wondered if to others it might mean the pos- 
sibility of escape. 

When the tomb-like car stopped, and we 
emerged from it, we were outside the city, be- 
fore a brick wall that inclosed a low, damp 
building where we were to spend what was 
left of the night. We had to stand out of 
doors during the long process of searching. 

Having had little food during the day, we 
hoped for something that night; but we re- 
ceived nothing, as the supper hour was al- 
ready past. 




(59) 



60 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

After being put into a cell, our little group 
had worship together, as had been our wont. 
The other occupants of the cell were some of 
the prisoners who had been traveling with us. 
At no previous time had we thought it wise 
to invite others to join in our services; but the 
mood of these men, after the day's wearisome 
journey, encouraged us to ask if they would 
like to unite with us, and they all readily as- 
sented. We recited, from memory, verses of 
Scripture, talked a few minutes, and prayed, 
even the worst of the criminals repeating with 
us the Lord's Prayer. All this was done very 
quietly, lest the watchman should interfere. 

Before the light of another day had discov- 
ered our cell, a guard opened the door, and 
called for us to make ready to start on the 
march. After the inevitable searching, we 
were hurried out of the building, still without 
food, the breakfast hour having not yet come. 

At the gateway, we espied the bent form 
of an old man; and to each prisoner, as we 
passed, he gave a tiny loaf of light bread. I 
inquired the reason for this, and heard the fol- 
lowing story about the aged man's benevo- 
lence: Years before, his son had been exiled 
to Siberia; and the father, in remembrance of 



BANISHMENT 61 

him, and in sympathy for those who were 
condemned to a like fate, had stood at that 
prison gate each morning through all those 
years, and given a loaf of bread to every 
exile passing there. He had used up a large 
share of his property in this way. A delicacy 
indeed the light bread was to me. 

The car that had brought us from the rail- 
way station was not large enough to carry our 
entire number; and going back, I was among 
those who walked. To be thus in the free air 
was a privilege, though we were driven four 
or five miles through the deep snow. 

All traffic was compelled to give way to the 
etapCj policemen with bared swords clearing 
a thoroughfare. 

At the railway station, •we were obliged to 
stand for an hour in the piercing wind, al- 
though those who had walked were wet with 
perspiration, and all were thinly clad. 

The trip from Kiev to Kursk was the least 
disagreeable part of our journey. Some of 
our soldier guard were genial boys, and an 
earnest conversation developed between them 
and our company of evangelists. They mani- 
fested wonderment that persons like us should 
be banished. 



62 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

We were assured that we should not have 
to stay at all in the jail at Kursk, but should 
keep on to the next stopping place; but on 
reaching the railway station, we learned that 
the company with which we were to have gone 
had already started, therefore we must lodge 
in the dreaded jail. The hour of our severest 
trial had struck. 

We were taken in charge by soldiers for 
the forced march of eight or ten miles to the 
jail. In the searching there, I was the vic- 
tim of a drunken, inhuman tyrant. He ap- 
parently took delight in my suffering. The 
room being cold, and the asphalt floor wet and 
dirty, I was so rash as to suggest that I be not 
required to disrobe, as I had nothing about me 
that was prohibited. My tormentor was be- 
side himself with rage at such presumption, 
and raising his fist, declared that he would kill 
me. But he did not strike. Instead, he de- 
manded that I take off even my undercloth- 
ing, although that was not customary. Each 
garment, as I removed it, he threw in a differ- 
ent direction. Then, as soon as he had fin- 
ished, he began to rave because I was not 
dressed again. 



BANISHMENT 



63 



After the searching was ended, we nine 
requested the jailer to let us have a cell by 
ourselves. At first, this request seemed to be 
ignored, and we were put with a crowd of 
criminals and other prisoners; but after about 
half an hour, we were taken to a separate cell. 

When the old man we had comforted at the 
Odessa jail observed that we were about to 
leave him, he clung to us, refusing to be left 
behind; and he was not hindered from going 
along. Perhaps the guard did not know that 
he was not one of our number. This man was 




Devil's Bridge, in the Caucasus Mountains 



64 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

an atheist, although he showed so emphatic 
a preference for association with Christians 
rather than with persons who shared his un- 
belief. 

The cell to which we were assigned was 
much worse than the one we had left. Water 
dripped from the ceiling, and the walls were 
green with mold. The stench was beyond 
comparison. The only way we could resist the 
deathly dampness and cold was to run about 
the room almost constantly. If we stopped 
for a few minutes, the cold became unendur- 
able. The thought of having to remain there 
for a week was most alarming. We begged 
the local inspector to let us have a few pieces 
of board as a protection from contact with 
the asphalt floor; but he replied that it was 
not in his power to do anything for us. We 
were dumb with agony. 

The discipline in this jail was more than 
ordinarily strict. An officer made a tour of 
inspection three times a day. The inmates 
of each cell were warned of his approach, in 
order that they might stand in line facing the 
corridor as he passed by. Once when some of 
those in our cell were too weak and ill to get 
into position in time, the officer sharply repri- 



;r>,' 



BANISHMENT 65 

manded us, and threatened to deprive us of 
hot drinking water. The hot water was our 
only source of warmth; and furthermore, 
without it, we could not have eaten the hard 
prison bread, famished though we were. 

Having exhausted our strength in efforts 
to combat the cold, we sought to devise some 
method of securing a little rest and sleep. 
We put some of our coats on the floor, and 
lay upon them, crowded together literally like 
sardines, and used the remaining coats as 
covers. But soon we had to get up and run 
again. 

From the first night, we all had rheumatism 
as a result of the cold and the dampness. Our 
throats and ears also were affected. Not till 
months afterwards was my hearing entirely 
restored. One week in that damp, loathsome, 
frigid cell made deep inroads upon our health. 
In those days, I first learned the real value of 
prayer. When the wretchedness of my con- 
dition overwhelmed me, prayer was the only 
way of escape from absolute hopelessness. 

The promise of transportation from that 
dungeon after one week, was not fulfilled, and 
for aught we knew, our confinement there 
might continue indefinitely. 



66 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

Meanwhile another detachment of prisoners 
had arrived. This we learned when one of 
them was placed in our cell. He had been an 
imperial Austrian councilor, and freedom 
had been offered him on condition that he 
divulge the plans of certain cities in his prov- 
ince. His face told something of what he had 
suffered for his refusal to betray his coun- 
try thus. 

This man was of impressive appearance, 
yet wholly unpretentious. He expressed joy 
at the unexpected companionship he found 
with us, and thenceforth he was one of us. 
He took part in our devotional services, evinc- 
ing perfect confidence in the Scriptures. 

Our ninth day here was the acme of our 
misery. That we could not much longer en- 
dure such circumstances was evident. After 
special prayer together, we determined to ap- 
peal to the warden for removal to a less ob- 
jectionable cell. 

That same day, a state inspector visited the 
jail. As soon as he saw us, he comprehended 
the seriousness of our situation; and in a few 
hours, we were taken to another cell. 

Up to this time, the local inspector had been 
very harsh; but after he learned that we were 




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(67) 



68 



ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 



in prison because of our religion, he was much 
changed in his attitude toward us. 

Our guard in the new quarters was remark- 
ably unlike those we had had before ; and each 
day, he prepared something palatable for us 
to eat. 

We were yet to see why Providence had 
permitted us to be kept so long at Kursk. 



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The Largest Bell in the World, Moscow 



CHAPTER IV 



A PETITION TO THE CZARINA 

NOW we could employ our time to other 
purpose than that of fighting the cold. 
Each day, we gave an hour to Bible study 
together. The German minister was the only 
one among us who had been allowed to keep 
a Bible, and the rest of us often wished that 
in former years we had gained more knowl- 
edge of the sacred Word. 

One peculiarity of our new cell was most 
distressing. The ceiling was arched, and the 
walls were circular. This construction was 
said to have been intended as a means of tor- 
ture. A person who has never been subjected 
to the ordeal, cannot imagine the effect pro- 
duced upon the nerves as the eyes follow the 
circling lines, with no place to rest. In some 
instances, this has even caused insanity, or 
at least contributed to it. Any one who has 
lain ill in a room where the wall paper was of 
intricate pattern, and has spent weary hours 
trying to trace out the design, will not think 
that statement an exaggerated one. 

At about this time, we asked the privilege 
of sending a petition to the governor-general 

(69) 



70 ESCAPE EROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

of the Odessa war zone. The object of the 
petition was, to get leave to make the re- 
mainder of om' railway journey as ordinary 
passengers, under guard, as exiles sometimes 
did, we to pay the traveling expenses. 

This request brought us to the attention of 
the warden, and frequently thereafter he sent 
for some of us to come and talk with him on 
religious subjects. On the wall of his office 
hung a portrait of the former chief inspector 
of the jail system of all Russia. This high 
official was in sympathy with the sectarians, 
and attended their services in Petrograd. 
When the warden was informed of this, his 
interest in us appeared to increase. 

Some of the other officers of the jail also 
gave evidence of being well disposed toward 
us, and came to our cell repeatedly to talk 
with us. Opportunity was given us to write 
postal cards or short letters to our friends; 
but of course these brief missives were cen- 
sored, and if anything had been found in them 
that the prison authorities did not approve, 
we should have paid a heavy penalty. 

Soon after Christmas, the priest of the 
parish in which the jail was located, made his 
yearly rounds to "bless" the cells. We were 




(71) 



72 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

notified beforehand of his coming, and all 
stood during his presence, except one man 
who was not well. Others of us had urged 
this man to let us help him to stand while the 
priest performed his ceremonies; but as we 
had been treated leniently for some time, he 
was emboldened to disregard the requirements. 

The policeman in attendance on the priest 
was enraged at such a breach of discipline, 
and we feared he would have the transgressor 
put into a dark dungeon. These dungeons 
were so low a man could not stand upright in 
them; and to the darkness, the noxious odors, 
the suffocating lack of air, cold, hunger, soli- 
tude, and the dampness caused by frequent 
flooding of the floor, was added the prospect 
of never again knowing any other existence. 

The ceaseless rattling of the fetters on our 
fellow prisoners made a sound pitiful to hear. 
Such a sound heard in a machine shop or 
a foundry would not be particularly painful; 
but when we knew that it signified a cruel 
burden borne perhaps for many years, re- 
ducing wrists and ankles to skeleton-like size, 
it was truly pathetic. 

On stated days, we were taken into the 
courtyard of the jail for a few minutes' 



A PETITION TO THE CZARINA 73 

breathing spell. At these times, we delighted 
in seeing the crows that came for the crumbs 
we had saved for them. They brought to us, 
in return, a suggestion of joyous freedom. 

Thus three weeks wore away after our 
change of cell. As each week passed, we were 
told that on the next, we should leave this 
place. Transportation from jail to jail was 
not an agreeable experience. Often it in- 
volved kicks and beatings, and divers forms 
of discomfort. Yet we longed for it more im- 
patiently than a child longs for an expected 
holiday. 

On the last day of our sojourn at Kursk, 
the son-in-law of the German pastor, and the 
daughter of another of our number, came to 
the jail, and an interview with their relatives 
was granted them. They brought food for 
us all, sufficient for a few days; and blankets 
and extra clothing, such as we had not been 
permitted to bring with us. Thus we saw one 
reason why -God had let us be detained so long 
there; for the extreme cold of the Siberian 
winter would have mocked at the light gar- 
ments we had worn. 

These visitors also brought money to pay 
our fare for the rest of our railway journey, 




A Fine Specimen of Muscovite Architecture, the 
Residence of a Moscow Merchant 



(74) 



A PETITION TO THE CZARINA 75 

in case the governor-general should consent 
to our traveling by passenger train; but ap- 
parently we were not in the category of pris- 
oners to receive any favors from him. 

This visit had still another and far greater 
significance. After the first interview, we 
prepared a petition to the czarina, in which 
we respectfully asked that our sentence be 
modified so that we should be sent to some 
station in European Russia instead of the far 
northern part of Siberia. Then the father of 
the young woman obtained permission to 
shake hands with her at the farewell inter- 
view; and as he clasped her hand, he left in 
it the petition, which had been written on thin 
paper, and tightly folded. 

She afterwards transmitted a copy of this 
to a lady of the imperial court, who was her- 
self a sectarian; and through this channel, it 
reached the czarina, and ultimately the czar. 
This meant much to us later. 

The night after our visitors left, we were 
awakened at about two o'clock, by a call to 
march. Overjoyed, we sprang to our feet; 
and quickly our packs were on our backs and 
we were awaiting the opening of the doors. 
During the searching and the forming of 




"Holy" Moscow 



(76) 



A PETITION TO THE CZARINA 77 

the command, I observed crouching on the 
floor some women prisoners, — distressed look- 
ing creatures, one of them, who had a babe 
in her arms, being evidently near death. It 
would not seem as if any heart could be un- 
moved by the sight. Yet no mercy was shown 
to these women. 

Aft^r we had been taken into the prison 
yard, the warden came out, and called to us 
religious prisoners by name ; and when he had 
found us, he presented to us three copies of 
the New Testament. 

An hour's tramp through the snow brought 
us to the railway station. Our leader dis- 
played more consideration than we had re- 
ceived on like occasions before; for he found 
shelter for us in the station, in order that our 
perspiring bodies should not be exposed to 
the intense cold outside. 

There was questioning among the prisoners 
as to whether we were to be taken through 
Moscow; but when we were not far from that 
city, our course was changed, so that we 
passed to the east of that historic capital of 
Great Russia. 

We arrived at Tula late in the evening, 
and were marched five miles to the jail. 



78 



ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 




Tolstoy, Whose Estate Was 
Near Tula 



There we were put 
in a large cell with 
about one hundred 
criminals. Among 
these were many 
thieves, who gath- 
ered in groups, 
each of which had 
its leader. Some 
of them were lay- 
ing plans for their 
next campaign — 
for their depreda- 
tions did not cease 
in prison. They 
were on very ami- 
cable terms with 
the jailers; and 
we learned after- 
wards that they 
divided their booty 
with them in re- 
turn for certain 
concessions. 

While the pris- 
oners lacked food, 
they did not lack 



A PETITION TO THE CZARINA 79 

tobacco ; and the tobacco fumes increased the 
foulness of the air. Many of the prisoners 
were tuberculous, and other communicable 
diseases were rife. 

After three days, we were taken from this 
place, and headed toward Samara. The sol- 
diers in charge of the etape were merciless. 

We had been told that there would be a 
change of guard at Penza, but that no trans- 
port ever stopped at the jail there. However, 
when we had waited an hour at the railway 
station, for the guard that were to take us to 
Samara, and still they did not come, we were 
driven to the Penza jail. 

As we stood before the gate, a little girl 
appeared with a package of bread, which she 
wished to give us; but the soldiers roughly 
ordered her away. She left sorrowfully, dis- 
appointed that she could not fulfill her mis- 
sion of mercy. Possibly she had heard of the 
benevolent old man at Kiev, and had thought 
to emulate his example. 

At the jail, we waited another hour or two. 
We were informed that the soldiers were tak- 
ing their baths, hence the delay. When at 
last they were ready, we gladly continued on 
our way. 



80 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

We crossed the Volga, and arrived at Sa- 
mara in the evening, in a heavy snowstorm. 
From the railway station, the lights of the 
prison were pointed out to us. But to us, 
they were not cheerful lights. 

We waded through snow knee-deep to the 
prison, and after the usual delay, were ad- 
mitted through the first gate, then a second, 
and still a third, and afterwards into the 
searching hall. 

The food in this jail was clean in compari- 
son with that in the other jails, the bread was 
more edible, and cooked grains were provided. 
If all the food had been served to the prison- 
ers individually, no one would have lacked 
seriously. But only the bread was thus por- 
tioned out. The other food was brought into 
the cells in bulk, and the most lawless pris- 
oners got nearly all of it. 

The cells were the most habitable we had 
yet occupied. But all classes of prisoners 
were crowded together; and during the last 
days of the sixteen that we spent there, there 
was no room even to move about, and hardly 
enough to sit down. 

The thieves carried on their work here as 
at Tula. One of them feigned interest in the 



A PETITION TO THE CZARINA 



81 



gospel; but when he found that his pretense 
did not make me relax my vigilance in guard- 
ing my belongings, he was in a rage, and 
vowed he would take revenge on me when 
we reached our destination. 




Church of St. Basil, Moscow 



82 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

Thieving is as verily a habit as is the use 
of stimulants. Some of these conjfirmed 
thieves were really unable to be quiet after 
night came on. Though they might want to 
sleep, they seemed impelled to creep about 
and seek pillage. 

The Baptists who were with us wrote post 
cards to friends in Samara, and these friends 
came to see them at the jail. Gorelic and I 
inquired whether there were any Seventh-day 
Adventists in the city; and learning that 
there were, we sent a request that some of 
them visit us. A few days afterwards, our 
minister who was stationed in the place, called 
upon us. His wife had implored him not to 
do so, fearing that he too might be arrested 
if he thus identified himself with us; but his 
conviction that he ought to come was so 
strong he could not refuse to heed it. 

Gorelic being too ill to go to the visitors' 
room, I went alone to meet our guest. The 
interview could last only a few minutes; 
and even during that little time, we were 
separated by two sets of grating, with guards 
between. Not many words were spoken. Yet 
the comfort it gave me simply to look into 
the face of this brother, was beyond expres- 



A PETITION TO THE CZARINA 83 

sion. When I was taken back to my cell, I 
endeavored to communicate to Gorelic the 
encouragement I had received. 

Our good brother had brought us food and 
also some money. As we were not allowed 
to take the money, we asked that it be kept 
for us at the office of the jail, and were told 
that it would be; but we never saw any of it 
again. 

Most of the food was stolen from us in our 
cell. If we had given some of it to the thieves 
at the outset, we might have fared better. 

In one large cell of the Samara jail was a 
Prussian pastor with his whole flock, who 
had been taken as prisoners of war — men, 
women, and children, some sick, all dirty, 
ragged, and half starved. The aged cleric 
found diversion in keeping count of the ver- 
min he caught in his clothing. The number 
was in the thousands when he showed us his 
record. 

The hunt for body vermin — though not 
the tally — was necessary in self-defense; for 
so numerous were these parasites, that if not 
destroyed, they would sap one's very life. 

One day, we were startled by shrieks from 
one of the other cells. Jailers ran in the di- 



84 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

rection from which the noise came; and soon 
we saw them hauling a prisoner down the 
stairs. The poor wretch's mind had given 
way under the conditions to which he had 
been subjected. 

When Gorelic had partially regained his 
strength, I became ill. Fortunately, as both 
were not helpless at the same time, we could 
wait upon each other in turn. 

Some of the prisoners who arrived later 
than we, were removed sooner. This, to be 
sure, tended to discourage us. The covetous 
chief jailer knew that we had a small sum of 
money on deposit at the office, and he warned 
us that unless we gave him an amount which 
he specified, he would see that we remained 
long where we were. When, after a little 
more than two weeks, we were called to 
transport, he tried frantically to get hold of 
some of our little store, but did not succeed. 



CHAPTER V 



ON THE SIBERIAN BORDER 

THE train soon bore us over the Ural 
Mountains, the natural frontier between 
Europe and Asia. We received the accept- 
able tidings that at Chelabinsk, we should 
not be taken into the jail, but should stop at 
the prisoners' transportation station until the 
next etape, a few hours later. 

We were marched through the city, a dis- 
tance of about five miles. Only with diffi- 
culty could I walk, being half sick; and my 
pack seemed an almost unbearable weight. 

As it was Sunday, many people were rid- 
ing on the streets; and there were exclama- 
tions of delight and clapping of hands, for 
we were thought to be war prisoners, and 
our presence was regarded as evidence of the 
success of the Russian troops. In truth, 
some of us were loyal Russian citizens. 

At the transportation station, we were de- 
livered over to the care of humane soldiers. 
We had heard before that the Siberians were 
more merciful toward exiles than were the 
Russians, and this assertion was verified in 
our contact with them. An explanation of 

(85) 



T?* 



86 



ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 



their considerate disposition may be found in 
the fact that many of them had themselves 
been exiles, or were descendants of such. 

Announcement was made that there were 
too may prisoners for one transport, and some 
must go to the jail and wait another week. 
Our company were among those to wait. 
With the memory of our recent experiences 
still very vivid, the thought of having to un- 
dergo a repetition of such experiences was 
most depressing. 

The scanty baggage we carried — bound 
upon our shoulders with thongs — was mi- 











■ 


H^^^fe 




j^T 


< 


1 ^ 


> 1 '^^^f 


mm- 


■m 


ijg 




IH^ 


n 




^^^^^^^^WBBBUi 


h^Hhi 



Characteristically Russian 



ON THE SIBERIAN BORDER 87 

nutely searched. Then we were put into a 
cell with the same class of criminals that we 
had encountered at Samara. In this cell, 
there were "bunks" — so decorous a term as 
"berths" would be a misnomer. We could 
not get possession of any of these; but this 
was not wholly a misfortune, for we secured 
a place near the bars, where the watchmen 
could see us plainly, and thus we had their 
protection. The watchmen in this jail were 
apparently honest; yet, as they could not see 
clearly so far into the poorly lighted cell as 
the "bunks" were, the thieves operated there 
diligently. 

One morning, when the inspector made his 
regular circuit, an Austrian prisoner of war 
reported to him that one of the other prison- 
ers had stolen some money that the Austrian 
had concealed in his clothing. In acknowl- 
edging that he had secreted anything about 
his person, the man became liable to a pen- 
alty of at least two weeks in a dark cell. And 
further, the thief and his colleagues threat- 
ened him with dire punishment for accusing 
them. To avert these consequences, he re- 
tracted his statement. But even after that, 
the thieves beat him most brutally. 



88 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

Another morning, one of the ministers dis- 
covered that the soles of his shoes had been 
cut away in the night. The motive doubtless 
was, to find any money that might have been 
hidden inside. 

During the first part of our stay here, the 
warden would not permit the watchman to 
buy food for us with the money held in trust 
for us in the office of the jail; but later, per- 
mission was given for him to do so. The 
price charged us was probably three or four 
times what the watchman paid; but in reply 
to a demur on our part, he tauntingly sug- 
gested that thereafter we go and make our 
own purchases. 

When the time set for us to leave Chela- 
binsk had passed, and still there was no in- 
dication that we should go soon, a riot was 
started in our cell. The prisoners insisted 
that they be allowed to see the warden. He 
came, together with his subordinate officers, 
all armed, and they entered the cell. The 
spokesman of the prisoners then stated their 
demands. The warden was very conciliatory 
while standing among that hundred reckless 
men, and he promised to do all he could to 
hasten the time of their going. 




The Great Market of Moscow 



(89) 



90 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

Nowhere else had our stay among the crimi- 
nals been so trying. They were very bold, 
stealing even in the daytime. I kept close to 
my baggage all the while; but this provoked 
their ire, and they became intent on doing me 
injury. The misery of our surroundings 
would have been unendurable but for the 
comfort bestowed by Him who is rightly 

called "the Comforter." 

« 

I met in this cell a prisoner of war — a 
Prussian peasant — who, with his wife and 
children, had been transported back and forth 
from jail to jail, seemingly for no purpose 
but to wear their lives away. There were 
many others equally unfortunate. One man 
was dying before our eyes. The feet of an- 
other were frozen, and he could not stand. 
He was sent to the jail hospital, which was 
another step toward death. 

While we were with these men, they joined 
us each day in worship, and some evinced a 
real respect for Christianity. One aged man 
was inconsolable when he was taken from us. 
He said he wished to remain with us till he 
should die, or his condition should be bettered. 

After spending two weeks at Chelabinsk, 
we left for Tomsk. This journey required 



ON THE SIBERIAN BORDER 



91 



three days. The soldiers had told us that it 
was likely we should stop at the two jails at 
intermediate stations; but we passed them by, 
and not at all reluctantly. Our spirits rose 
hourly, for we hoped to quit cell life soon — 
though not free, yet no longer to be confined 
behind prison bars. 

We reached Tomsk at night. When the 
cold air struck our lungs, we could hardly 
breathe. The temperature was forty degrees 
below zero. 

We were formed into orderly command, 
four abreast, and were thus taken to the jail. 
As the dry snow creaked noisily under our 
feet, the sound was echoed by the forest. The 
bright moonlight shone on the snow-laden fir 
trees; and notwithstanding the wretched ap- 




ToMSK University 



92 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

pearance of the prisoners, the scene on the 
whole impressed me as really pleasing. 

One man, being lightly clad, succumbed to 
the cold, and fell by the way. He was 
dragged to a sled in the rear, which was in- 
tended for such emergencies. 

The jail was a large, white building; but its 
color did not typify what we found within. 
Our small company had hoped that like the 
political prisoners, we might have a separate 
cell; but instead, we were put with a gang of 
criminals. These seemed to consider the cell 
as their own, and us as intruders. They dealt 
out the food, giving us only very small serv- 
ings; but we accepted this arrangement with- 
out protestation, knowing that any complaint 
would make matters worse. The one distin- 
guishing feature of this jail was that the food 
— what little we had — was fairly edible. 

One of the greatest boons of our prison 
existence was the few minutes spent in the 
small, high-walled yard two or three times a 
week. Though we were kept walking in a 
circle, under guard, yet no wealth could have 
purchased from us this respite. 

On our third day at Tomsk, we were trans- 
ferred to a cell in which there were only pris- 



ON THE SIBERIAN BORDER 93 

oners of war. This was a decided relief to 
us, as we had been compelled for months to 
mingle with the worst of criminals. After 
that, we did not see them except when taken 
into the area. 

In one cell that we passed at such times was 
a most harrowing spectacle — a company of 
war prisoners who were dying of filth and 
hunger. 

We had been only about a week in the jail 
at Tomsk, when the jailer opened our cell 
door, and read the names of those who would 
the next day be transported; and our names 
were on the list. There is nothing to which I 
can compare our joy at the prospect of leav- 
ing this, the last jail on our route. We knew 
that the cold would be pitiless five hundred 
miles farther north, where we were to be sta- 
tioned, and that the transport by small sleds 
would involve much suffering; but that did 
not lessen our enthusiasm at the thought of 
getting into the free outdoors. 

One thing for which our little group had 
prayed was that we should not be separated. 
That we had kept together so long was ex- 
traordinary; for in many instances, families 
were broken up. 



•V:^ 



94 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

On our last evening in jail, when we had 
worship, several of the other prisoners wept 
because we should have no more such oc- 
casions together. 

As we left the jail, we noticed a significant 
change — the soldiers' swords were no longer 
bare, but were in their sheaths; and for the 
transport of about twenty-five prisoners, there 
were only two guards. Precautions against 
the escape of prisoners were little needed in 
that snow-bound region. 



CHAPTER VI 



SEMI-FREEDOM 

HAVING for so long a time scarce been 
permitted to make a move without or- 
ders, we could not readily accustom ourselves 
to any degree of freedom. And freedom this 
was to us, in contrast with cell life. Our 
march through the city seemed almost like a 
triumphal procession. 

We were taken to the prisoners' transpor- 
tation station to await etape. The windows 
and doors of this building were barred, yet it 
was different from the prisons. 

On the wall, we found written, in pencil, 
"You will receive nineteen rubles for warm 
clothing, and about eight rubles a month for 
food." To this was signed the name of a 
prisoner who had occupied the same cell as 
we at the last jail, but had started forward 
the previous day. Before he went, we had re- 
quested that he leave some message for us, at' 
the first opportunity, as to how he fared; and 
this was the way in which he had complied 
with our request. 

One by one, we were conducted to the office 
of the pristav of Narym, in an adjoining 

(95) 



m 



96 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

building. There our places of exile were an- 
nounced; and to each of those who most 
lacked clothing, nineteen rubles was given for 
the purchase of additional garments. One 
elderly clerk declared that no money should 
be given me, and he talked excitedly of the 
great war expenses of the government. But 
he left the room before I did; and after he 
had gone, a younger clerk gave me the regu- 
lar quota. 

Later the guard took us to the market, 
where we bought felt boots, fur mittens and 
caps, and such other necessary articles as our 
means would allow. Some of us afterwards 
asked permission to go to the post office; and 
this being granted, we hired a sleigh, and 
with a guard, flew off through the streets. 
Literally like flying it seemed to me, so de- 
lightful were the comparative liberty and the 
fresh air. 

It was dark when we returned to the sta- 
^tion, and horses and sleighs were in readiness 
for us. As we were taking our places in the 
sleighs, one of the Baptist evangelists came to 
us, in deep distress, to say good-by. A tele- 
gram had been received at the station, de- 
manding his return to Odessa, for trial on a 



SEMI-FREEDOM 



97 



charge similar to that which had sent him into 
exile. Back over the dread route by which we 
had come, he was taken. After all this, he 
was acquitted of the charge; but he was 
nevertheless obliged to make the terrible jour- 
ney to Siberia again, because of the original 
sentence. 

Our long line of sleds moved off. As I was 
not well, the leader of our guard thought to 



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1 




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Sleds Used to Transport Exiles 



i'^' 



98 ESCAPE mOM SIBERIAN EXILE 

show me exceptional consideration by giving 
me a place in a comfortable sleigh, with an 
aristocratic prisoner. But this man was an 
atheist; and his talk was so offensive to me, 
that I preferred less pretentious company. 
So I left him, and rode with Gorelic, in a 
small sled. 

Under a starlit sky, we rode out upon the 
limitless fields of snow. When occasionallv 
our driver stopped, we knew that a sled ahead 
of us had upset. Such occurrences were fre- 
quent, as the sleds were very narrow. 

One of the prisoners of war seemed to be 
perishing from cold. Such of my clothing as 
I dared spare, I gave to him, or surely he 
would have frozen to death. 

Sometimes we thought we saw wolves, and 
possibly we did; but in some cases, the dark 
objects we had supposed to be wolves, proved 
to be only bushes. 

It was eleven o'clock when we reached the 
village where we were to spend what was left 
of the night. The people in the house where 
we stayed, regarded us quite indifferently; 
for a company of exiles stopped there every 
night. After warming our chilled bodies, we 
found places on the floor to sleep. 



SEMI-FREEDOM 99 

Early next morning, we were called to 
transport. At each village at which we halted 
— ten to twenty miles apart — there was a 
new relay of horses, also a change of drivers. 

Some of the way, the snow lay smooth and 
level; but elsewhere it was heavily drifted, 
forming high ridges and deep valleys. 

After the first night, we traveled mainly 
on the ice of the Ob. This river is the only 
highway in that part of the country, summer 
or winter. The population is very sparse, 
there being only little settlements along the 
banks. Scattered timber began to be seen, 
and a thicker growth as we advanced. 

These were the last days of February. The 
ice was then about ten feet thick. Had we 
not been detained at Kursk, we should have 
reached this stage of our journey at a time 
when the temperature was far lower, and our 
supply of clothing less adequate. We had 
chafed and almost despaired at the long con- 
finement in prison; but now we realized that 
it was well the Father had seen fit not to 
keep us from the trial, but rather to sustain 
us through it. 

On the second and third days of our jour- 
ney by sleds, I was quite ill. The third night. 



100 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

we were at Kalpasheva; and as I then had a 
high fever, it seemed necessary that I accept 
the counsel of our captain, and remain at the 
little hospital there. But Gorelic would not 
consent to our separation. He did what he 
could for me during the night; and the next 
morning, he laid me in our narrow sled, and 
with the aid of a prisoner of war whose good 
will we had won, he endeavored to keep me 
from falling off the unstable conveyance. He 
had obtained a sled that had a frame of reeds, 
and this made it more secure. Still, again and 
again I rolled off into the snow. This, how- 
ever, was not a grave catastrophe. 

Where we spent the next night, there were 
no beds, and the only food was fish, which I 
could not eat. How I craved some broth or 
other light food! But where was it to be 
found? Gorelic had a difficult task in caring 
for me. 

On the morning of the fifth day, I was 
somewhat better. That night was the last of 
our journey. The room in which we stayed 
was well heated; but we were obliged to open 
the doors and the windows, and let the frigid 
air in, as a means of driving the thousands 
of bedbugs to their retreats in the log walls. 



SEMI-FREEDOM 



101 



When morning came, my condition was 
further improved. Our hostess supplied us 
with milk and cream; and for the first time 
in four days, I was able to eat. 

The people thereabouts were all Ostyaks. 
This tribe, not many years ago, were con- 
verted to Christianity — nominally, and in 
part forcibly. In some of their homes are 
still reminders of their former paganism, in- 
cluding images, which are said to be wor- 
shiped in secret. 

The young horse attached to our sled was 
not inclined to keep to the beaten track, 
choosing instead to flounder in the deep snow. 




A Peasant Abode in Northern Siberia 



102 ESCAPE EROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

Consequently the others went on without 
us. Only with Gorelic's aid did the driver 
finally get control of the animal. 

At noon, we left the river, with its border- 
ing forest, for the open snow fields. Ere- 
long from out the whiteness appeared a small 
village, and we were told that it was our 
destination — Alatayevo. As we came nearer, 
we were surprised to find such fair looking 
houses. They were built of logs; but as tim- 
ber cost nothing except the labor of getting 
it out, the buildings were of generous size. 

One more snow valley, little horse, and we 
shall be there 1 Away he gallops, to overtake 
the others. Some of the sleds ahead of us 
were overturned, throwing the occupants into 
the snow. Others of the exiles laughed at 
the trifling mishap. They had not laughed 
in m.onths before. 

We stopped in front of a house which I 
learned was that of the town constable. 
There, for the last time, we were counted, and 
then our guard dismissed us to find rooms for 
ourselves. 

We now had to part with our fellow pris- 
oner the imperial councilor. This we did 
with sorrow. He was taken farther north. 



SEMI-FREEDOM 103 

With Gorelic and the young man who had 
helped him to take care of me, I started in 
search of a room; but after going a few rods, 
I was too exhausted to walk farther, and said 
that I would wait for them at the house where 
we then were. The two others continued the 
search, but later they returned and engaged 
a room where I had stopped. We were to 
pay a monthly rental of seventy-five cents 
each. Afterwards we were convinced that our 
location was providential. 

Our host was celebrating his birthday an- 
niversary, and guests were present at tea. 
We were invited to eat with them. In these 
isolated sections, every holiday is accounted 
holy. Such superstitions are fostered by the 
priests, as a means of gaining a stronger hold 
upon the people. 

I was inexpressibly relieved that I need no 
longer see prison bars and bared swords, or 
hear the clank of fetters and the harsh cries 
of the watchmen. Henceforth our watchmen 
saw us but once a day. 

Had we been delayed a few days more, I 
should have been too ill to travel. The second 
day after our arrival, I could not rise. My 
fellow exiles did everything they could for 



104 



ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 



my comfort. They gave me the one bed in 
our room, while they slept on the floor. They 
also purchased material of which they made 
a "tick," or mattress cover; and this they 
filled with wild hay, which was abundant 
there. A luxurious bed I thought it, after 
having so long slept on the asphalt floor of 
a prison cell. 




CHAPTER VII 



AN EXILE STATION 

THROUGHOUT March, I was so ill 
that I had to lie in bed nearly all the 
time — a result, no doubt, of the exposure 
and want of the preceding months. For 
a still longer time, I could hear continually, 
with all the vividness of actuality, the rat- 
tling of shackles and the shouts of guards 
which had sounded in my ears during those 
months. 

Late in April, I was well enough to walk 
a short distance, with help, along the trail 
that led through the deep snow between our 
lodgings and the river. The sunshine was 
then bright and cheery, though the cold was 
still severe. 

Even while suffering physically, I was 
happy; for though under guard, yet I could 
breathe the pure out-of-door air, and go about 
freely within narrow limits. 

In Siberia, as in many parts of Russia, the 
people are unaccustomed to sleeping in beds. 
A bed is commonly included in a bride's 
dower, but it is merely for display. When we 
were strong enough, we bestirred ourselves 

(105) 



106 



ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 



to get something else to sleep on than the one 
poor semblance of a bed which our room con- 
tained. The people were astonished that we 
should think of indulging in such luxury; but 
we deemed it a necessity, for protection from 
the cold that came through the crevices in the 
rough floor. 

Although there was a boundless supply of 
timber in the dense forests all about, the deep 
snow prevented our securing any of it; but 
we found birch saplings, and bent these in 
such a manner as to give a springiness to the 




A Siberian Feasant Woman 

Doing the weekly washing in the river when the 

temperature is thirty-five degrees below zero. 



AN EXILE STATION 107 

beds we manufactured of them. At first, our 
attempts aroused much ridicule; but after a 
while, other of the exiles tried to imitate our 
products. 

A perplexing problem was, how to defend 
ourselves against the hordes of bedbugs that 
assailed us at night. To rid our room of these 
pests was impossible, as the log walls fur- 
nished innumerable hiding places for them. 
By experiment, we learned that the creatures 
could not swim. So we set the legs of our 
bedsteads in cans of water, and thus were in- 
sured against attack. 

The people about us marveled when thej^ 
learned of this device. All their lives, thev 
had been tormented by these pestiferous in- 
sects, often being ill in consequence. Yet they 
had never resorted to even so simple a plan 
of defense. 

Immediately after arriving at our destina- 
tion, we had written home; but not till near 
the first of June did an answer reach us. In 
the spring months, the breaking up of the 
ice makes the river impassable for either sleds 
or boats; and these northern stations are en- 
tirely cut off from the world during that 
period. 



108 



ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 



For about three months of the summer, 
river steamers come up from the south, bring- 
ing flour and other supplies, and taking in 
exchange pine nuts that the settlers gather 
from the forests. Some years there are none 
of these nuts to be found; but one good crop 
pays for provisions for a number of years. 

The large rivers of Siberia all flow toward 
the north. In spring, the ice near the sources 
of the rivers breaks up fully a month earlier 
than that at their mouths ; and the broken ice, 
as it is carried northward by the current, is 
forced beneath the still solid ice of those 
colder latitudes, causing it to burst with a 
tremendous boom, like that of heavy thunder. 




An Ice Jam on a Siberian River 



AN EXILE STATION 109 

This broken ice forms immense dams, which 
cause the rivers to overflow thousands of 
square miles of the tundra. For this reason, 
only the small patches of higher land along 
the rivers are inhabited, except by the native 
Tungus. The people of that wild tribe travel 
over the swamps in summer, as over the snow 
in winter, on skis. 

The settlements become little islands when 
the tundra is flooded; and there is never any 
certainty as to the height at which the water 
will cease to rise. The people always have 
their canoes ready for use in case the water 
should reach the houses. 

In the month of June, the mouths of the 
rivers become free of ice. Then the water 
from the tundra flows back to the river beds. 
The retreating water leaves a thick mud over 
the land. In the remaining six or eight weeks 
of the summer, there grows up in this mud a 
coarse grass, man-high, which is the only fod- 
der obtainable for horses and cattle. 

The leanness of the stock, however, is 
caused not so much by lack of food, as by 
the cold. Each year, many domestic animals 
freeze to death. Still others fall victims to 
the big Siberian bears. 



110 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

As the horses and the cattle must be kept 
in stables throughout the long winter, they 
suffer from the confinement; and the owners 
let them out in the spring as soon as patches 
of ground can be found where the snow is 
sufficiently melted off. 

Not long after we reached Alatayevo, a 
cow that had been let out for exercise, was 
found dead, the body partially devoured. The 
men of the village organized a bear hunt ; and 
eventually they found the. guilty beast — a 
big female bear. 

With four or five cubs, she was snugly 
sheltered in a natural tent formed by the 
drooping branches of a pine tree. The weight 
of the snow on the branches bent them down 
so that their outer ends reached the ground, 
but no snow could sift through the thick fo- 
liage. 

The old bear was killed, and the cubs were 
captured. One of the cubs was given to the 
children of the family that the chief of our 
guard lived with, and it became very much 
of a pet. I used often to see it when I went 
to call on the guard. 

I know of no more charming pets than 
young bears. They are very playful — more 



AN EXILE STATION 



111 



SO than any kitten — amusing themselves for 
hours at a time by turning somersaults, or 
clutching the head in the hind paws and roll- 
ing over and over like a ball, or performing 
other comical "stunts." They are also very 
chummy with their human friends. 

This one soon learned to take milk from a 
bottle. Having been accustomed, bear-like, 
to sucking its paws, it had liltle difficulty in 
substituting the bottle rubber for them. 

Still more, it soon acquired the art of hold- 
ing the bottle in its paws. A ludicrous figure 
the little fellow made, sitting up on his 



i'^^'^^l^^&^^^^W^^^^Iil^'fe^'i&iiE^Stoi^^^^^^M 


';:#ii^^:#a;:gi#a?»>^^ ' - ' ■ '" '' 


.:-,:::^ *--i 


^^^ ■--■"-■' ''^^^hH 


1 


1 




1 


pmm^^^^^^^^^^^m 


Ik 


m 4 f 







Not Handsome, but Happy 



112 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

haunches, with the bottle in his big paws. 
And even little bears have very big paws. 

When we had been in Siberia about two 
months, all the exiles in our village were sum- 
moned to the house of the head man of the 
station, to get our apportionment of money 
for the time we had been in exile — seven 
rubles and twenty copecks a month for each 
person. Later fifty copecks extra was added. 
Ordinarily one ruble is equal to half a dollar 
of American money; but because of the war, 
the value had then fallen to about a third of 
a dollar. No allowance was given in advance. 

Meanwhile Gorelic and I had received a 
few dollars from home. Exiles were permit- 
ted to have only small amounts, any larger 
sums that were sent to them being confiscated. 
We purchased a few dishes, also fish and 
meat, and sometimes a little milk. 

The fish and the meat, and even the milk, 
were frozen. Farther south, where there are 
markets, milk is sold in solid blocks, carried 
by a string or a stick, one end of which has 
been frozen into the block. 

The people of Siberia subsist almost wholly 
on meat, fish, and tea, with an imitation of 
bread. This last is made largely of small wild 




On the Georgian Road 
This road, about two hundred miles in length, is the prin- 
cipal highway across the mountains from the Caucasus 
to Transcaucasia. 

(113) 



114 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

berries, which are dried, ground, and mixed 
with a dark, inferior flour that is shipped from 
the south. White flour is a dainty enjoyed 
by the wealthiest only, as are also any fruits 
and vegetables that are imported. The few 
potatoes grown in the country do not mature, 
and are of very inferior quality. Hardier 
vegetables could be grown, but the people un- 
dertake nothing their fathers did not do. 

Nature has attractions even in Siberia, es- 
pecially in winter. I could almost be content 
to live there — in freedom. The country is 
beautiful. The great firs, bent under their 
load of snow, seem like gray-haired patri- 
archs. But the reflection of the sunlight on 
the snow is so dazzling that it often causes 
injury to the sight. 



CHAPTER VIII 



THE "ARRESTED" TESTAMENT 

SOON after our arrival in Siberia, we sent 
home for a Bible; but because of the in- 
terruption of traffic at the time of the break- 
ing up of the ice, we had to wait a long 
time for a response. In the meantime, we 
learned that there w^as in the village one Bible, 
the property of the church. It was in the care 
of the school-teacher. We asked her to lend 
it to us; and she did so, on condition that we 
keep the transaction strictly secret. We had 
also the Testament that was given us by the 
warden of the prison at Kursk. 

When news spread relative to the unusual 
character of some of the exiles who had ar- 
rived in the village, much wonderment was 
excited. Many of the people, from curiosity, 
came to see us, and some became interested 
in the Bible. Among these latter was a young 
Polish war prisoner. He ceased to associate 
with the criminal exiles, and gave evidence 
of a real desire to become acquainted with 
the Scriptures. 

In those times, we felt assured that the 
things we had imdergone were not without 

(115) 



116 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

benign purpose, and that God had something 
for us to do on that outer rim of civilization. 

The eldest son of our host was the first 
person to whom our attention was turned as 
one we might help. He was married, but 
lived in the home of his parents, in accordance 
with Russian custom. In the evening, after 
the rest of the family had gone to sleep, he 
would slip quietly into our room, which ad- 
joined his own, and listen while we read 
aloud. He was amazed as he learned of the 
teachings of Jesus, which he perceived were 
very unlike those of the priests. 

This young man — called Alexander — had 
forgotten the little he had learned in his boy- 
hood about reading; and we offered to teach 
him anew. We also gave him our Testa- 
ment. He was delighted to possess such a 
treasure ; and thereafter, early in the morning 
and late at night, we could hear him reading 
aloud in his own room. 

The parents were grateful for our efforts 
in behalf of their son ; and they were proud of 
his ability to read, even stumblingly. They 
once invited us to their part of the house, to 
read the Bible to neighbors who were present. 
Thus our missionary activities seemed to pro- 




(117) 



118 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

ceed smoothly; yet we knew, from former ex- 
perience, that a conflict with the priest was 
sure to follow. 

Our earnest young pupil was often with us 
at worship time ; and he wondered that we did 
not bow before the pictures of the saints nor 
make the sign of the cross. One evening, 
we read Acts 17:25, which says that God 
does not require to be "worshiped with men's 
hands." From that day, Alexander would 
not make the sign of the cross. 

We had not expected such prompt and de- 
cided action on his part; and we were fearful 
that the opposition his course would create, 
might discourage him. A few mornings later, 
he told us that his wife had been grieving all 
night, because she had discovered that he had 
ceased to wear a crucifix. 

Persons unfamiliar with the religious spirit 
of imperial Russia, will not readily compre- 
hend how seriously this young man's conduct 
was regarded. That some of the exiles did 
not show reverence to the symbols of worship 
of the state church was not considered par- 
ticularly shocking; but for a member of that 
church to refuse to do so, caused great ex- 
citement. 




A Typical Peasant Home in Russia 

The yoke on which the wife and mother carries her 

water buckets — though the men of the household may 

be idle — is also typical. 

(119) 



120 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

The idea of force in religion prevailed 
there; and the general sentiment was, that all 
must be compelled to conform to the usages 
of the church. The priest was king and god. 

We counseled our young pupil to act cau- 
tiously, on his wife's account; but he asked, in 
consternation, if we meant that he should do 
contrary to the Bible teaching. This certainly 
we did not advise; yet we knew that he was 
not thoroughly instructed, and we feared that 
the trial he would surely meet, might be more 
than he could bear. 

The parents, though hitherto they had been 
friendly toward us, now became quite the re- 
verse, and the father ordered us to leave the 
premises. We were not obliged to obey this 
order, as it was not given through the guard. 

The son was treated very harshly by his 
parents. They agreed with the people of the 
village, that both he and we should be exiled 
to a more remote part of the country, unless 
he resumed his former religious observances. 
Still the young man declared, "Never again 
will I bow before the icons, or kiss the hand of 
the priest, since I have learned from the Bible 
how to pray." Frequently he found oppor- 
tunity to come to our room for instruction. 



THE "arrested" TESTAMENT 121 

When he sought to explain, to those who 
tried to dissuade him from his course, why he 
did as he did, they would not listen. 

Some urged the father to beat him. In- 
deed, as the climax of an altercation between 
the two, the father did strike his son in the 
face. Alexander had been a person of pas- 
sionate temper, yet he was calm under this 
provocation. He said to his father, that in the 
past, he had not been a good son ; he had been 
so ill-natured to his younger brother as to 
make it necessary sometimes for the boy to 
stay away from home. Yet his behavior had 
not been severely censured; but now that he 
had turned from his wrong ways, he was de- 
nounced and beaten. 

One Sunday morning about that time, the 
priest of the parish visited our little village. 
In the course of the church services, he 
made extravagant and groundless accusations 
against sectarians; and after this tirade, he 
remarked the presence of some of the pro- 
scribed class in the settlement, and charged 
the people not to allow us in their houses. 

As a result of this speech, we doubtless 
should have met with violence, had we not 
been under police protection. 



122 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

That afternoon, as we sat at our frugal din- 
ner, the priest and his assistant, with a crowd 
of the men of the village, came storming into 
our room. We greeted them courteously, and 
invited the priest to be seated; but he indig- 
nantly declined, and demanded to see the New 
Testament we had given to Alexander. He 
asserted that it was not the same as was used 
by the Russian church, and he had come to 
"arrest" it, that it might be sent to the district 
police, to ascertain whether it was orthodox. 

Alexander had gone away some days before 
on a fishing trip, and had not yet come back. 
As he always kept his Testament with him, 
the priest could not get it then ; but the father 
was commanded to go and bring it to him. 
Although the distance was considerable, the 
father obediently set out by canoe to secure 
the offending Testament. 

The Bible that we had borrowed from the 
school-teacher lay on our table when the priest 
was in the room; but fortunately he did not 
recognize it, else he might have made trouble 
for the teacher. 

Gorelic opened the Bible, and read there- 
from refutations of statements the priest had 
made in the church. The people present were 



THE ''arrested" TESTAMENT 



123 



astounded at Gorelic's boldness in presuming 
to contradict the assertions of their priest. 

Alexander's father, on reaching the place 
where the son was, told him we had sent for 
the Testament. Only by such trickery could 
he have obtained it. The young man, though 
deeply regretting that we should ask for the 
return of the treasured gift, yielded it up ; but 
when he came back home, he learned of the 
deception that had been practiced on him. 

We cannot say that this father was not 
prompted by love for his son. Presumably he 
believed that the only hope for the young 




A Hollow Log Fishing Canoe on a Siberian River 



124 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

man's salvation lay in his giving up what he 
had learned from the sacred Scriptures. 

A brother-in-law of Alexander's, named 
Paul, a man of some education, was at their 
home during this time ; and he also studied the 
Scriptures with us, and became convinced that 
many of the teachings of the Greek Catholic 
Church were erroneous. He likewise adapted 
his mode of worship to his new convictions, 
and thus incurred the disapproval of his rela- 
tives and others; but they did not take such 
rigorous measures to dissuade him as they had 
employed with Alexander. 

Paul was superintendent of a company of 
carpenters, and he traveled from place to 
place, overseeing their work. Wherever he 
went that season, he spread the story of the 
strange exiles and their strange religion. 
Afterwards, as we passed over the same route, 
we found that a knowledge of our faith had 
preceded us to every settlement, notwithstand- 
ing the limited means for conveying news. 

As the parents of Alexander made it im- 
practicable for us to remain in their house, we 
sought a room elsewhere ; but not many of the 
people of the village dared let us so much as 
cross their thresholds. 



THE "arrested" TESTAMENT 125 

One man agreed to let us share a room in 
his house with an exile who already occupied 
it, if the latter was willing. Later, when we 
called to inquire as to this exile's decision, the 
owner of the house had changed his mind. 
Possibly he had learned of our identity. Thus 
we were disappointed in our expectations. 

One of the exiles at this station was a 
wealthy manufacturer, who had obtained per- 
mission for his wife to join him there. We 
were on sociable terms with him ; and when he 
heard of our having thought to take a room 
with the exile before mentioned, he told us the 
following story: 

Before his wife's arrival, he had lived in a 
house with this other exile and two or three 
more; and one night, they extorted from him, 
by threats and force, a large sum of money. 
Then they warned him that no mercy would 
be shown him if he should report what they 
had done. 

Certainly we were thankful that we had not 
taken one of these unscrupulous characters as 
a roommate. 

The prospects for getting living quarters 
were discouraging; but in due time, our heav- 
enly Father directed us to a place He had 



126 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

provided for us. We called upon a man who 
was in ill health and in very straitened cir- 
cumstances; and when we proposed to rent a 
part of his house, and laid upon the table 
before him the few rubles we could pay in 
advance, he gladly accepted this source of re- 
lief from his financial embarrassment. 

As we were moving to our new location, the 
village was startled by the clanging of the bell 
of the little chapel. A house on the outskirts 
of the settlement was found to be on fire. As 
a strong wind was blowing from that direction, 
the whole village apparently was doomed ; for 
the buildings were close together, there was no 
provision for fighting fire, and most of the 
men were away on a fishing tour. The women 
frantically cried to the pictures of the saints, 
and even carried these objects of worship to 
the burning structure, imploring them to put 
out the fire. 

Gorelic and I hurried to the place, and did 
all we could to save the homes from which we 
had been excluded. Other exiles also helped. 

The stables were connected with the dwell- 
ings; and on the roofs of the stables were 
stacked the remnants of the year's crop of hay. 
On these high stacks and the grass-thatched 



THE "arrested" TESTAMENT 



127 



roofs of the houses nearest the fire, we sta- 
tioned some of the people, and had buckets of 
water passed to them from the stream near, 
that any spark lighting on the inflammable 
material might be immediately extinguished. 

The burning building, we knew, could not 
be saved ; and with such help as we could get, 
we tore away the part that was not yet afire, 
to prevent the flames from getting too strong 
headway. 

A cry was raised that a child was in the 
burning house. I quickly prepared to make 




Weeping, Not Laughing 

The Russians are an emotional people, and sometimes 
their mourning might be mistaken for laughter. 



128 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

my way in and rescue the little one ; but when 
I had drenched my clothing with water, and 
broken a window, preliminary to the attempt, 
word came that the child was outside. 

The only loss was the one building, with the 
calves and sheep that perished in it. 

Soon after the fire was out, some of the men 
returned from fishing; and men and women 
gathered about and gazed at us in bewilder- 
ment. They could not understand why we 
whom they had thought to be more danger- 
ous to the community than were the criminal 
exiles even, should have exerted ourselves as 
we had done for their sakes. 

The result of this incident was a genuine 
gratitude on the part of the people. Most of 
them were still distrustful of our religion ; but 
some did not fail to see that the icons in which 
they had been taught to believe, were power- 
less to protect even themselves, as those in the 
burning building had been reduced to ashes. 

On the second night in our new room, I 
was wakened by an exclamation from Gorelic, 
just as a man was disappearing through a 
window. There was another man outside, 
who undoubtedly had been acting as sentinel. 
He was one of the exiles we had known in 



THE ^^ARRESTED'^ TESTAMENT 129 

prison. Our belongings were scattered about 
the floor, and the little money we had had 
was gone. 

We gave chase to the intruders, but could 
not overtake them. Afterwards we learned 
that the settlers, and even the guards, found 
it necessary to comply with the thieves' code 
in the matter of punishing offenders, as there 
were not enough guardsmen to control them 
absolutely. 

According to that code, if a man was 
caught stealing, and could be overpowered on 
the spot, he might be delivered over to the 
guard, or even punished by his captors, and 
such a course would be acknowledged as just; 
but if he got away, then to bring any accusa- 
tion against him, however strong the proof of 
his guilt might be, was to call down upon 
one's self the wrath of the whole "gang." 

Several later attempts were made to force 
an entrance to our room; but after the one 
experience, we made sure that our doors and 
windows were well fastened. 

The family with whom we had taken up our 
abode were genial in their attitude toward 
us; and through their influence, others came 
to be less suspicious of our religion. 



130 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

Not infrequently persons came to us to 
inquire about the Bible. But they came 
privately; for if they were known to be in 
sympathy with us, they would be ranked as 
outcasts, even by their own families. 

At one time, as we were walking outside 
the village, a young man hiding in the tall 
grass by the roadside accosted us, requesting 
that we come and talk with him. We did as 
he asked, and explained to him the funda- 
mentals of the gospel message we proclaim. 

At the little shop where we often made pur- 
chases, the owner's daughter sometimes waited 
upon us ; and when no one was in hearing, she 
eagerly asked us about the teachings of the 
Bible. She wished to know how to pray to 
Jesus. Her mother, on learning what the 
daughter was doing, poui^ed out a flood of 
wrath upon her. 

For the sake of those who sought instruc- 
tion from us, we maintained the utmost se- 
crecy relative to such interviews; but when 
the parents of this young woman had learned 
of her having had religious conversations with 
us, we did not hesitate to risk their greater 
displeasure by going to them again. Through 
their love of money, we gained access to them, 




(181) 



132 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

to make purchases; and then we tried to 
impress upon their minds the truths of Scrip- 
ture. Some members of the family became to 
a degree mollified, but others were the more 
enraged at us. 

Again efforts were made to reclaim Alex- 
ander to the state church. He was summoned 
to the government headquarters of the dis- 
trict of Narym — a village of the same name, 
facetiously called a city — and there he was 
interrogated in reference to his religion. The 
priest, finding it impossible to overthrow Al- 
exander's defense, raised a question as to his 
sanity. But the civil officers allowed the 
young man to go free. Still he was regarded 
much as a criminal in his own village. 

He was required to leave the parental home ; 
but his wife became in a measure reconciled 
to his course, and her family also were toler- 
ant toward the ''new religion." 



CHAPTER IX 



A PENAL ISLAND 

BY the pressure of the water from the 
south, the ice was carried away from 
the point on the Ob where our settlement 
was located; but as it did not find an out- 
let at the still frozen mouth of the river, it 
formed a dam, and the water gradually 
spread out beyond the banks. The village 
became completely surrounded by water, and 
the country was soon flooded as far as we 
could see. 

The fish found more bountiful fare outside 
the river channel than they had had inside, 
and became almost too fat to move, whereas 
they had been very lean before. Men some- 
times waded out into the water and caught 
them in their hands. 

With the warm weather came wild ducks 
in vast flocks. Hunters sold ducks for little 
more than the traditional price of sparrows. 

When, later in the summer, the water re- 
ceded from the land, there arose from the wet 
ground clouds of mosquitoes. The air was 
full of them. They were in eyes, ears, and 
nostrils. 

(138) 



134 ESCAPE EROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

We obtained permission from our guard to 
go by boat to a place on the river where 
we could get some birch saplings, to make a 
frame over which we could stretch netting to 
cover our beds at night. In the forest, a 
worse enemy than the mosquitoes attacked us 
— myriads of gnats, which actually dimmed 
the sunlight; We had thought we were in- 
sured against their onslaughts, as we wore 
netting over our faces, and had bound our 
clothing securely at wrists and ankles. But 
in spite of these precautions, many of the tiny 
pests penetrated to our flesh; and such tor- 
ture did they inflict, that we were ill for days. 

The mosquitoes and the gnats rob the 
people of Siberia of much of the enjoyment 
of their brief summer. But before the sum- 
mer is over, relief is likely to come in the form 
of another calamity. Camp fires left burning 
by careless hunters and fishermen, often 
spread to surrounding brush and timber, caus- 
ing forest fires that burn over hundreds of 
acres. The smoke is sufltocating; but it is not 
whollv an evil, for it does awav with the mos- 
quitoes and the gnats. 

When the weather permitted, Gorelic and 
I spent a portion of the Sabbath in a seques- 



A PENAI. ISLAND 



135 



tered place a little distance from the village 
— a depression in the river bank, with natural 
seats of earth. Among the few who met with 
us there for Bible study and worship was 
the young Polish military prisoner. He ex- 
pressed the hope that when the war was over, 
he might return to his own country, and there 
tell the good tidings of salvation. 

One evening, ^ve were called to appear be- 
fore the chief of our guard. He had not been 
unfriendly to us up to this time, but now he 
was quite changed. He read to us a com- 
munication from the lieutenant governor of 
the district, directing that in order to stop our 
"propaganda," we* be transferred to Kolgu- 




A Fur Hunter in the Boundless Forests of Siberia 



136 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

yak. The chief ordered that we be ready to 
start for that place the next morning. 

Reluctantly we put together our "seven 
possessions"; and at the hour specified, we 
were at the river's edge. The question came 
to me as to why we should not have refrained 
from speaking of religion, and thus have been 
spared this new trial that had come upon us. 
The thought of banishment to a still more 
northerly station was most depressing. But 
soon I could rejoice again in fellowship with 
my Master, even in suffering. 

In a large canoe, with two guards in charge, 
we pushed off from the bank, and glided out 
upon the "back" of the Ob. 

As we passed out between the great forests 
that bordered the river, the silence seemed al- 
most holy. So profound was it that even the 
sound of a drop of water falling from one of 
our oars was audible. 

That scene of the far north was as if nature 
would concentrate the charm of an entire year 
in the short summer. And the mirror-like 
water, reflecting the beauties of the shore, 
made them more than twofold. In delight 
at the romantic view, guards and prisoners 
united, appearing to forget their relationship. 



A PENAL ISLAND 137 

From the water, there came to us a sound 
of the dip of oars, although we could see no 
boat other than our own, nor did the sound 
of any reach us through the air. Not till 
about an hour later did we meet the boat of 
which the river had given us tidings — so far 
does water transmit sound. The occupants 
were fishermen, and half drunk. 

Before night, we were at Narym, the seat 
of administration for a large though little in- 
habited territory. Our guards delivered their 
papers to the chief of police of the district; 
and as there was no possibility of our escaping 
from that isolated spot, we were left to our- 
selves for the night. 

While I kept watch over our baggage, 
Gorelic went in search of lodgings. He met 
on the street a young Jewish prisoner of war 
from Galicia — an intelligent, well educated 
man — and through him, secured quarters in 
the house of an aged Jew, who was also a 
prisoner of war. 

This young Jew was from the same city as 
our former fellow prisoner the imperial coun- 
cilor; and the next morning, he took us across 
a branch of the Ob to a small island, where 
we had the great joy of meeting again that 



138 



ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 



fine-spirited Christian man. He had been 
sent first to Kolguyak, but later had been re- 
moved from there, because the conditions he 
had to meet were seriously affecting his health. 
When he learned that we were bound for that 
place, he was dismayed. We were glad that 
he was in a more favorable location now; for 
he was an elderly man, and was not inured to 
hardship. 

At Narym, we met an editor of note, who 
also was an exile. He averred that he stood 
for the same principle as we — individual lib- 
erty — though he was concerned most with the 
civil aspects of the subject, and we with the 




Katun River, a Tributary of the Ob 



A PENAL ISLAND 139 

religious. This man afterwards escaped from 
exile, and reached the United States. 

Late in the day, we boarded the small 
steamer that was to take us to Kolguyak, the 
most northern of the penal stations in west- 
ern Siberia. 

As the boat drifted away, almost noise- 
lessly, with the current, the setting sun was 
spreading a veil of gold over the evening sky. 
Flocks of wild ducks floating overhead be- 
came lost to sight in the luminous glow, or in 
the dark green background of firs. 

Before entering upon the privations that 
awaited us, we indulged, on the boat, in the un- 
wonted luxury of an ordinary meal — such a 
luxury as we had not enjoyed for long months. 

During the night, the boat stopped at a 
number of little villages — mere huddles of 
fishermen's huts. At each place, the villagers 
were all at the landing; for a call from one 
of the small river steamers was an important 
event in their lonely existence. 

The next morning, we reached our desti- 
nation, an island a mile or two across. The 
population consisted of a few fishermen and 
traders, with their families, and about twenty 
exiles. 



140 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

During the short Siberian summer, boats 
occasionally passed this island; and once a 
month or so, one might stop. But in winter, 
sleds drawn over the ice by horses were the 
only means of travel. 

We had been told at Narym that the one 
fit associate we would find among the exiles at 
Kolguyak was a young Austrian prisoner of 
war. He had heard of us, and he met us cor- 
dially when we arrived. 

Other exiles also were very affable and 
were profuse in offers of assistance. But we 
recognized some of them as former cell mates, 
with whom we could not safely mingle; and 
we knew that to keep clear of them from the 
first would be easier than to break away from 
them later. Accordingly, we insistently de- 
clined their aid. But one of them refused to 
be repulsed, and seizing some of our baggage, 
went with us on our search for a place to live. 

We applied at the home of a trader, the 
most well-to-do man on the island. This man 
never housed exiles; but the military prisoner 
and the thief who accompanied us assured him 
that he need not fear to take us into his home, 
as we were not criminals. Indeed, the thief 
gave a very clear statement of our case. He 



A PENAL ISLAND 141 

represented himself as having come from 
Odessa, and having known of us there. As 
a result of the intercession of these two, we 
were so fortunate as to get lodgings with this 
family. 

Kolguyak is a desolate spot, not so much 
because of the natural environment, or even 
the isolation, though the unbroken forests 
stretch far on either side; but the most dismal 
feature of the place is its population — prin- 
cipally criminals and semicivilized Ostyaks. 
Still, the few Russians there are less ignorant 
than would be supposed. They are really 
better informed than many of their country- 
men in middle Russia. 

So far as religion was concerned, we had 
more freedoni here than at Alatayevo. The 
priest of the parish lived at a village twenty 
miles away; and he did not come to Kolguyak 
often. When he did come, his only errand 
was to get a supply of the liquor made by 
women of the island, in defiance of the im- 
perial prohibition issued at the beginning of 
the war. 

On one occasion while we were there, this 
priest, on leaving the steamer on which he had 
come, gave whispered directions to a by- 




A Siberian Greek Orthodox Priest 
He bears much resemblance to the one who visited 

Kolguyak. 
(142) 



A PENAL ISLAND 143 

stander, who forthwith hastened off on his 
commission; but he did not so quickly return, 
and the priest became very nervous, as the 
boat was to stop only a short time. Not until 
it was moving away did the messenger reap- 
pear. Then he tossed an immense bottle to 
the priest, who succeeded in catching it; but 
the stopper flew out, and some of the contents 
gushed out into the cleric's face and beard. 
For all his plight, he seemed well pleased with 
the success of his mission. 

Our host and his ' family were confirmed 
users of this same brand of liquor — stronger 
than common vodka; and they gambled also. 
Yet they were very kind to us. 

The house contained only two rooms; and 
these the family shared not only with Gorelic 
and me, but with our hostess's sister and the 
latter's husband. 

The thieves continued to inflict their society 
upon us; but our former acquaintanceship 
with them made us sure that their object was 
to get access to the premises, with an eye to 
plunder. Had we let ourselves be drawn into 
association with them, we must have forfeited 
the shelter of the trader's rude home. In- 
stead, we soon won his full confidence. 



144 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

We sometimes slept out of doors. One 
night when we had chosen to sleep in the 
house — for what reason, I do not now re- 
member — thieves forced an entrance into the 
store, and carried away what money had been 
left there. The trader never gave the least 
intimation that he suspected us of being in 
any way responsible for the raid; and obvi- 
ously there was no ground for such suspicion, 
as we could not have left the room where we 
slept, without stepping over his body. 

Here, as at Alatayevo, there were gnats 
and mosquitoes in such swarms as sometimes 
to obscure the daylight. It was unsafe to ven- 
ture away from the settlement without care- 
ful protection from these minute pests. They 
were not so numerous about the dwellings as 
elsewhere. 



CHAPTER X 



A FAVOR FROM THE CZAR 

WHEN we had been two weeks on the 
island, the chief of the guard came to 
us with an official document — the czar's re- 
ply to the petition we had sent to the czarina 
when we were at Kursk. 

Six months had passed since the sending of 
our petition, and I had forgotten the incident. 
Not till some hours later did I recall it. The 
experiences of those months had tended to 
erase many things from my memory. 

Our request had been that we be stationed 
in Ufa, the westernmost district to which ex- 
iles were sent. The czar's response was to the 
effect that if we still wished to go there, the 
Narym officials should see that we were taken. 

Transfer to the city of Ufa, or to that vi- 
cinity, would be a great concession; but the 
district of that name is large, and some parts 
of it would be, even more objectionable than 
the place where we were. However, we sig- 
nified our desire to be transferred, and looked 
forward hopefully to improved conditions. 

Then followed weeks and months of sus- 
pense before anything further developed in 

(145) 

10 



146 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

reference to the matter. Each time that we 
heard the signal of an approaching boat, we 
expectantly looked for orders for our transfer. 
Repeated disappointments became very dis- 
heartening. 

In a little open space in the forest, not far 
from the settlement, stood a solitary tree, be- 
side one that had fallen. To the seclusion of 
this spot we often went, and there found cour- 
age and comfort in prayer. This quiet retreat 
became very hallowed to us. 

The physical discomforts we endured were 
not so distressing as the lack of freedom, and 
the loneliness, among the drunken settlers and 
the still more depraved exiles. We could not 
so much as go across the river for a half hour 
without leave from the guard; and we were 
never allowed to go by ourselves. Yet we 
were very grateful that we two were per- 
mitted to remain together. 

When, at intervals of several weeks, a small 
steamer touched at the island, bringing us 
intelligence from the distant world — per- 
chance a letter from home — we were almost 
overwhelmed with emotion. 

Even so far north as we were, the heat is 
sometimes extreme in summer, and the hu- 




(147) 



148 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

midity very oppressive. As we could hardly 
sleep indoors now, we constructed a small 
sleeping tent of two sheets, supplemented 
with thin cotton cloth that we bought for the 
purpose. 

A few bricks formed our cooking range, 
and the ground answered as chairs and table. 
Our principal food was fish ; but we varied 
this by the manner of cooking it. At first, 
we fried it, European style. Afterwards we 
tried boiling it. Next we adopted the Si- 
berian method, that of baking. 

Then we devised a plan for smoking it. 
By digging in the side of the river bank, we 
improvised a smokehouse, cutting a chimney 
through from the surface. The fish that we 
smoked there was much coveted by the people 
of the island, who wished us to sell some to 
them; and we were glad to eke out thus our 
very scant funds. This enabled us to pur- 
chase a little flour, also wild berries that the 
Ostyaks brought into the settlement for sale; 
and of the two, we made vareniki — a sort of 
dumpling dear to the palate of a Russian. 
When a boat came up from the south, we 
could even give ourselves so rare a treat as a 
morsel of vegetables. 



A FAVOR FROM THE CZAR 149 

r 

When we had tired of fish however cooked, 
we resorted to the natives' custom of salting 
and drying it. We could eat the dried fish 
for a longer time and with better relish than 
that prepared in any other way. 

The summer in northern Siberia ends with 
July, and we did not mourn its close. The 
cold air of August served us a good turn, in 
that it did away with the insects. 

There are in this part of Siberia remnants 
of a barbarous tribe called the Tungus, who, 
unlike the Ostyaks and other tribes, have not 
yet become at all civilized, but live their no- 
madic life in the forest. 

Often a fire built by some of the Tungus, to 
roast their bear meat or other game, is left 
when they move on; and thus forest fires are 
started, which destroy great amounts of stand- 
ing timber. The heaviest loss from these fires, 
to the little Russian settlements, is that of the 
pine nuts, almost their only source of income. 
Such fires may rage from springtime till the 
coming of the autumn snows. No effort is 
made to check them, except when they en- 
danger a village. 

August brought a forest fire to our district 
— grand, but appalling. The whole region 



150 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

was shrouded in semi-darkness. For a num- 
ber of days, boats could not make their way 
on the river. Birds beat about helplessly, un- 
able to find food or home. Wild creatures of 



Drying Bear Skins 

the wood swam the river to the island, to es- 
cape the fire; and fear made them almost as 
tame as domestic animals. 

So choked were we by the smoke, that we 
wondered whether we should not be smothered 
to death. But a change in the wind drove the 
smoke away from us; and river, forest, and 
sky again appeared, a bright, new world. 

That August brought darkness of another 
sort to me — darkness such as I had never 
known before. In a Christian home and a 



A FAVOR FROM THE CZAR 151 

Christian school, I had been instructed in the 
principles of our faith; and for three or four 
years, I had been a teacher of these same prin- 
ciples, which I believed implicitly. 

But now a procession of strange questions 
ran through my mind: Why need I suffer 
banishment, with all , its attendant misery, 
when many good people so shaped their course 
as not to bring upon themselves such conse- 
quences? Instead of persisting in evangel- 
istic work, why could I not give my energies 
to other employment, in which I would avoid 
the hardships I now had to meet? Was it 
possible that our opponents were in the right, 
after all, and that we were not warranted in 
our interpretation of the Scriptures? 

Though I could repeat from memory abun- 
dant Bible texts in support of our faith, yet I 
was impelled to study them anew from the 
printed Word, to see if I was after all mis- 
taken. My mind was so harassed, I could not 
eat or sleep, but hid away in the forest, and 
there studied and prayed. 

The Sabbath had always been a delight to 
me; and with its return at the close of that 
week of turmoil, there came such peace and 
happiness as I had never before known. That 



152 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

penal island seemed a glorified spot. A celes- 
tial presence was as real to me as if it had 
been visible. 

Before we were transferred to that station, 
our minister in Tomsk had written that he 
intended to visit us ; but our being sent farther 
away prevented the carrying out of his plan. 
This was a grievous disappointment for us. 
Now our minds turned to a visit from some 
one else outside the settlement as a relief from 
the monotony of our surroundings. 

As we were having our morning Bible study 
together on Sabbath, we espied two strangers 
passing; and their appearance was so unlike 
that of the settlers and exiles about us, that 
we hastened out to meet them. They went 
inside with us, and we learned that they were 
connected with a government camp some 
twenty miles away, where a company of men 
were getting out railroad ties. 

These two had had occasion to go by canoe 
from their camp to the nearest steamer land- 
ing, and on the return trip, had lost their 
way in the dense smoke, and unintentionally 
reached our island. They were Mennonites, 
and as such, were exempt from the bearing of 
arms, but not from noncombatant militarv 




Scenery Along the Katun 



(153) 



154 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

duty. Hence it was that they were serving 
their country in this far section of the earth. 

They joined us in our Scripture reading, 
singing, and prayer. One of the two was a 
minister, and he was accustomed to conduct 
religious meetings in their camp. We gave 
them a small volume of Bible readings that we 
had, and explained to them some of the dis- 
tinctive doctrines of our church. When we 
parted, it was as friends in Christ. A few 
weeks later, we learned that the minister was 
presenting to his congregation the subjects we 
had studied together, and others that were 
treated in the volume of Bible readings we 
gave him. 

Thus was the smoke of the forest fire made 
the bearer of a message of cheer to us, and a 
message of Bible truth from us. 



CHAPTER XI 



LOOKING TOWARD EUROPE 

WE waited two months in vain expecta- 
tion of an order for our transfer to 
Ufa. Then, concluding that the matter had 
been pigeonholed, we decided to send a tele- 
gram to Kerensky, the leader of the socialis- 
tic faction of the Duma, begging that the 
imperial decree be carried out. 

Of course, there was no telegraph line to 
our little island, nor was there even a post 
office nearer than Narym. But by a man 
who was going to that place by canoe, we sent 
a letter to the editor in exile there; and he 
forwarded our message to Kerensky. 

One morning in early autumn, we heard 
the whistle of a river steamer, and hurried to 
the landing to learn if there was any news for 
us. A deputy sheriff of the jdistrict came 
ashore, and informed us that we were to go to 
Narym to attend to our affairs. 

We surely were overjoyed. The steamer 
was to leave in a few minutes, and we could 
not well go so soon ; but we made preparations 
to start at the first opportunity. We dis- 
posed of such of our few belongings as we did 

(155) 



156 ESCAPE PROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

not wish to take with us, giving to a sick exile 
one of the very comfortable beds we had made. 

Our host expressed the wish that we might 
return, when free again, and continue to teach 
Christianity to his family and others. Some 
of these people, I believed, would have been 
susceptible to the influence of the gospel, but 
for their addiction to the use of vodka. 

Unwilling to wait for the next steamer, 
which might not come for several weeks, and 
not having sufficient means to hire a canoe 
to take us to Narym, we arranged to go to 
Tymsk, a station about twenty miles below 
ours, with an islander who was planning to go 
there in a small boat. Steamers called at that 
point oftener than at our island. 

The time of starting was late afternoon. I 
was amazed at the beauty of the sunset on the 
Ob that evening. I have no remembrance of 
having ever beheld a view more wondrously 
lovely. A light breeze stirred the surface of 
the water ; and as the sun sank below the dark 
green rim of the forest, sky and river vied 
with each other in brilliance. 

With darkness came cold creeping upon us 
from the shore. The breeze died away, and 
our sails — made of grain sacks — flapped idly. 



LOOKING TOWARD EUROPE 



157 



A pair of oars was brought into use, but ere- 
long one of them broke. Still it was made to 
do service, and we kept slowly on. 

As we passed close along the bank, we saw 
a big grouse almost within arm's reach. None 
of our boat's company having brought a gun, 
the great fowl was in no danger. 




A Siberian Family 



158 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

At a fisherman's hut farther on, our oars- 
men — two exiled thieves — wished to stop 
and rest. There fifteen or twenty men, rough 
looking but seemingly well disposed, and un- 
mistakably jolly, invited us to have supper 
with them. We had brought food with us, 
but we were not averse to a warm place in 
which to eat, although the tobacco smoke was 
so thick as to be almost solid. 

The little village of Tymsk, being built in 
the edge of the forest, cannot be seen from the 
river, even in daylight. Yet we were in no 
doubt as to its location, though we approached 
it at about midnight; for a watch fire was 
burning on the bank. The watchman proved 
to be a Tartar exile from my native Caucasus. 
We enjoyed the warmth of the fire, for the 
night was cold. 

The young Austrian prisoner of war who 
was our only associate for some time after we 
went to Kolguyak, had been transferred later 
to Tymsk ; and he had urged that if we should 
ever come to that station, we stay with him. 
This invitation we now accepted. 

His boarding place was the home of the 
village lay assistant to the drunken priest we 
had sometimes seen at Kolguyak. This assist- 



LOOKING TOWARD EUROPE 159 

ant evinced real interest in our religion, and 
remarked that there was too much commer- 
cialism in the state church. 

The next morning, we met a man who had 
been banished on the ground that he spoke 
German to employees in his mill, though he 
declared that he did not speak German, but 
the Dutch dialect generally used by the Men- 
nonites, they having come originally from the 
Netherlands. 

Late in the evening of that day, a stampede 
of every person in the settlement in the direc- 
tion of the landing, heralded the coming of a 
steamer. As I realized that this boat was to 
take me from the scene of my banishment, my 
feelings were such as I shall not try to put 
into words. 

The little steamer was northbound, and 
would go as far as Kolguyak, but would not 
call at Tymsk on the return voyage. Thus 
we were obliged to go back to the island. But 
we stayed there only an hour, then started 
for Narym. 

This boat brought us mail that had been 
sent months before. Among it was my Bible. 
My joy at receipt of the precious volume was 
unbounded. 



160 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

There were two Chinese silk traders on the 
steamer, one of whom entertained us with 
Chinese singing. I had never before seen 
chopsticks used, and I did not imagine that 
soon I should make use of such myself. 

When we reached Narym, the exiled editor 
was the first to greet us. He had been influ- 
ential in having the deputy sheriff send for 
us; for he was on fraternal footing with the 
sheriff, although one was an officer of the law, 
and the other an offender against it. 

We again saw the imperial councilor, with 
whom our association had been so congenial, 
notwithstanding the difference between us in 
nationality, station, and age. One of his 
keenest trials here was lack of agreeable as- 
sociates. 

At police headquarters, we learned that as 
a result of the sending of our telegram to 
Kerensky, word had come that we should be 
permitted to go immediately to Ufa, without 
convoy. 

Navigation would close soon. A boat was 
to leave for the south that night; and a man 
was sent by canoe to notify the Baptist min- 
isters still at Alatayevo, that they were at 
liberty to start by that boat for European 




< 
< 

< 
o 

H 

o 

>-^ 



11 



(161) 



162 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

Russia. They arrived at Narym in time, and 
proceeded south; but Gorelic andl, for some 
incomprehensible reason, went to sleep, and 
did not wake up till the boat had gone. An- 
other boat came the next day, though, and 
that we did not fail to board. 

Before leaving Narym, we met the Polish 
exile whom we had known at Alatayevo. At 
his request, I had ordered a Polish Bible for 
him, which he had since received; and he read 
it with great satisfaction. 

When our steamer stopped at Kalpasheva, 
we caught sight of one of our ministers, A. 
Osol, in the crowd on shore, and had a few 
minutes' visit with him. He had been ar- 
rested at Tiflis, capital of Transcaucasia, and 
banished to this station. His jail ordeal had 
been worse than ours. 

This minister, when a young man attend- 
ing missionary training school, had been in- 
structed in the care of the sick; and now his 
knowledge in that line was put to excellent 
use. Hundreds of the people applied to him 
for aid, and he worked hard to help them. 
About a year later, this good man died of 
typhus fever, caused, undoubtedly, by condi- 
tions he liad encountered in prison. 



LOOKING TOWAKD EUROPE 163 

Our little steamer made better time than 
the one om* friends were on, and we reached 
Tomsk before they did. The next morning, 
we made application for our safe conducts to 
Ufa, at the office of the lieutenant governor 
of Narym, who lived at Tomsk. 

There we met the rest of our company. 
Among them was the Baptist minister who, 
after we had left the last jail on our way into 
exile, about seven months before, was sent 
back to Odessa for trial on an additional 
charge brought against him by members of 
"the Black Society." Had that charge been 
proved, the penalty would have been two 
years in one of the horrible Russian jails — 
if death did not occur before that time had 
elapsed. He was cleared of the charge, but 
then he was returned to Siberia on the former 
sentence, and arrived at our first place of 
exile after we had been removed to the island 
station. 

Before the hour appointed for us to start 
for Ufa, Gorelic and I sought out our minis- 
ter at Tomsk. We were surprised to see, over 
the chapel door, a sign announcing the serv- 
iqes. All our meeting places in Russia had 
been closed soon after the war began; but in 



164 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

Siberia, the land of exile, there was more 
freedom for those not exiles, than there was 
in Russia. 

In a very happy mood we made the jour- 
ney of three or four days to Ufa. We were 
coming closer to the world from which we had 
been so far separated. Instead of being trans- 
ported by etapCj, we traveled by regular pas- 
senger train, with no guards to watch us. 

.When we reported to the governor, he 
commanded that we leave the city at once. 
The German Baptist was to go in one direc- 
tion, another of the Baptists and I to the 
little city of Birsk, about a hundred miles 
distant, and Gorelic and the rest to a third 
place. The governor would not listen to any 
plea for a reconsideration of his decision. 

At Birsk, I was encouraged at the prospect 
of a not uncongenial abode. I secured a 
pleasant room in the home of a family whose 
son was a prisoner of war in Germany. They 
said that I resembled him; and from their 
bearing toward me, one^ might have judged 
that I was really he. 

As was customary, I must call at the police 
station each morning. In ten days, there 
came to the police a communication from the 



















^9l 






-"^BBB 


'— 


--t ---3*^' 


^B 




m 


^S 




.,-.4s^^ ^m 


^^ 




m^^' 


I^^B 




^*'''^k 


j^^^g 



"^}^H, 



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a> 



(165) 



166 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

governor, directing that I be transferred to a 
village on the Tartar steppes. Evidently the 
governor had set his face to make our lot 
harder than it had been in Siberia. 

From Tomsk, I had written to our mission 
treasurer; and the day before I was to leave 
Birsk, a reply carne, and with it some money. 
The amount was much more than an exile 
ordinarily was allowed to have ; but after some 
delay, it was delivered to me. With it I pur- 
chased such articles as I most needed. 

The hour for me to start for my destination 
had come. My companion in exile had al- 
ready gone to his station. I had my "wolf's 
passport" — a passport that does not give 
the bearer a right to go anywhere except to 
the point named, nor to tarry by the way, save 
to eat and to sleep. 

I was to travel without a ''black angel" — 
that is, a guard — and had one week in which 
to make the journey and appear before the 
police at its end. My baggage was packed, 
and the man I had engaged to take me by 
wagon was already overdue. As I waited 
impatiently for him, a strange thought sur- 
prised me — one which I had meager time to 
act upon or even to develop. 




Hide Market of Kazan Tartars 



(167) 



168 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

I had been told that the last steamer of the 
season would go to Ufa that night. Why 
should I not board it, and endeavor to escape 
exile? The thought of spending an indefinite 
period on the cold, wild steppes of the Kazan 
Tartars, naturally was not attractive to me. 
With a rush of thought, my course was out- 
lined. It was a hazardous one ; and in case of 
recapture, my punishment would be such as I 
dared not think of. 

There was no time to deliberate; but I 
uttered a brief prayer that I might be kept 
from starting upon the project unless I could 
carry it through. 

The chief of police himself had left the door 
of escape ajar for me. When the Baptist 
who had been with me here went to the police 
station to say that he was ready to start for 
the place to which he had been assigned, the 
officer inquired when I intended to leave ; and 
being told that I was preparing to go the 
same day, he said that I need not come to 
notify him, as my comrade's statement would 
suffice. 

Had I myself told the police that I was 
about to start for the Tartar territory, I 
would not have violated my word ; but as the 



LOOKING TOWARD EUROPE 169 

extraordinary lenity of the chief left me un- 
committed, I did not feel that to evade the 
authorities would be dishonorable. The ques- 
tion was as to my being able to do so. 

During the week that I was supposed to be 
on the road, I would be comparatively free 
from police surveillance. Even for several 
days more, my nonarrival might be attributed 
to some mishap. Thus I should have time to 
go a long distance before my escape was sus- 
pected, if I could but get away from Birsk, 
where I was known to the police. 

I said to my host, that as the man I had 
hired to take me had not come, I should go 
by boat. I did not tell him that the place to 
which I now designed to go was not a place 
of banishment, but my parents' home in far 
southern Russia; and he apparently was not 
aware that no boat was scheduled to leave 
Birsk at that time, that would take me to the 
Tartar country. 

My first danger lay in the fact that the 
steamer agent to whom I must apply for a 
ticket, was, like all men in similar position 
in Russia in war time, a sort of government 
detective. If I should elude his vigilance, I 
must pass between two lines of policemen in 



170 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

crossing the gangplank to board the steamer. 
I took my baggage to the steamer station, 
which was only a few blocks away, then went 
back to my room, where I stayed till near the 
time for the steamer to go. 

How, I wondered, could I pass that double 
row of policemen? One plan occurred to my 
mind; but it might seem like an imposition on 
the fatherl}^ spirit my host had manifested 
toward me. It was this: The two daughters 
of the family, being students in the gymna- 
sium, wore the dress peculiar to such ; and any 
one seeing them on the street with a young 
man, would take for granted that he was a 
brother or other relative, or at least a fellow 
student. So I suggested to the parents that 
the daughters accompany me to the steamer; 
and ready assent was given to this proposition. 

At the ticket window, a crowd of people 
awaited their turn. The agent noticed me as 
I entered the waiting room; and motioning 
the others to stand aside, he inquired what I 
wanted. This seemed to me like a challenge, 
but I simply replied that I wished a ticket to 
Ufa. He handed me a ticket, then asked 
whether I would like a private stateroom. As 
a safeguard against observation, a private 




Old-Time Farming Methods 
Haymaking affords pleasure as well as employment for 



both men and women in Russia. 



(171) 



172 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

stateroom certainly would be desirable ; and I 
answered that I would take one. Receiving 
the key, I left the room, the first menace to 
my dangerous undertaking safely passed. 

Why I was treated as if I werq a dignitary, 
I do not know. True, my clothing was of 
good quality; and my eyeglasses, with black 
ribbon attached, were such as were not com- 
monly worn in that part of Russia except by 
scholarly people. Yet I must believe that 
more than natural influences were exercised 
in my behalf. 



CHAPTER XII 



A "WOLF'S PASSPORT" 

BETWEEN my fair young guardians — 
who were wholly unaware of their office 
— I crossed the gangplank, chatting busily, 
as if quite unobservant of surroundings; al- 
though I certainly was not forgetful of the 
policemen ranged along either side. On deck, 
we continued our ostensibly merry conversa- 
tion until the whistle gave warning of the 
steamer's departure; but I was careful to 
stand where I was not conspicuous. 

As the unsuspecting misses, having re- 
turned to the wharf, saw the steamer head 
toward Ufa instead of in the opposite direc- 
tion, their faces told that they were puzzled; 
but I waved them a reassuring good-by, then 
went into my stateroom. 

Scarcely ten minutes passed before there 
was a rap at my door; and when I opened 
it, the purser stood before me. He asked 
to see my ticket. His request would have 
caused me no concern, but that the Rus- 
sian word he used for ticket was one that is 
sometimes used to indicate a passport. In 
my confusion, I produced my ''wolf's pass- 

(173) 



174 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

port." The purser, after glancing at it, 
questioned whether it entitled me to free 
transportation. 

I understood, then, that he had meant to 
call for my ticket; and I handed it to him, 
which was all he required. He may not have 
observed that the place designated in my 
"wolf's passport" was one we were leaving 
farther behind us each moment ; or perhaps he 
surmised my intentions, but was not dis- 
posed to hinder me. 

The next morning, we arrived at Ufa. I 
almost expected that officers would be waiting 
at the wharf to apprehend me; but I was not 
molested. I went direct to the railway sta- 
tion. To my chagrin, I learned that no train 
would leave for the west till late in the after- 
noon. Putting my baggage in a corner of 
the waiting room, I concealed myself in the 
manner that I believed to be most effectual; 
that is, walking boldly about the streets. 
This I did till time to board the train. 

I bought a ticket for Samara, whence I 
thought to travel by boat to Tsaritsyn. To 
lessen expense, I would have traveled third- 
class, except for the greater privacy afforded 
by the second-class coaches. In these, a per- 



A ''wolf's passpoet" 175 



son could have a compartment to himself, 
and shut himself in, if there were not too 
many passengers; but the third-class coaches 
were not divided into compartments. I re- 
frained from leaving the train at stations, as 
to be seen by any of the gendarmes on duty 
there might be disastrous for me. 

I reached Samara the next morning, but 
had not quite enough money to pay my pas- 
sage on the steamer to Tsaritsyn. It was at 
Samara that a minister of our church had 
visited me in jail when I was on the way to 
Siberia, and I now determined to hunt him 
up; but the city is a large one, and I did not 
know what part of it he lived in. When per- 
sistent inquiry for him and for our church 
brought no reward, I decided to find, if pos- 
sible, a church of some of the other sects, as I 
might in that way learn of the whereabouts 
of our own. 

I met an old woman carrying a basket of 
vegetables, and I asked her if she knew 
where the Baptist church was. She did not; 
but she pointed to a chapel near, which she 
said belonged to another sect. It was our 
very own! In connection with this building 
was the home of the minister I sought, whose 



176 



ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 



visit to Gorelic and me in jail had been so 
great a comfort to us. He and his family 
received me hospitably; and the little time 
spent with them was a season of refreshment 
to me, spiritually and physically. He lent 
me the few rubles lacking to pay my passage 
on the steamer — which amount I sent back 
to him a few days later. 

On a better steamer than I had thought to 
see in that part of the country, I proceeded 
down the Volga. "Mother Volga" this river 
is called, as it has its source in the region 
where the Russian nation was cradled. 

I felt more secure on the boat than on land. 
I had a stateroom alone; and though nearly 




On the Volga 



A "wolf's passport" 177 

two days on board, I hardly spoke with one 
person. Indeed, there were few passengers, 
as travel on the Volga is limited chiefly to 
summer, when many pleasure seekers make 
the long journey down to the Caspian Sea. 

During those early October days, the clouds 
were dark and foreboding, as was the outlook 
before me. Still I was grateful to the Father 
who had brought me thus far. 

On the second night, we reached Saratov, 
where the steamer was to stop a number of 
hours. Our denominational headquarters for 
all of Russia were then located in Saratov. 
I went ashore in search of them; and having 
the address, I succeeded in finding the place. 

There I learned that the work of the mis- 
sion was advancing, though many of our 
workers had been exiled, and others had been 
called into the army. 

Before leaving to go back to the steamer, 
I drew most of the money the mission held to 
my credit. This would meet the expense of 
the rest of my journey homeward, and also 
repay the amount borrowed of our minister at 
Samara. 

After another day of slow travel by boat, 
I landed at Tsaritsyn. To avoid the distress- 

12 



178 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

ing self-consciousness that I could not easily 
throw off when alone, I made companions of 
two Armenians who had been with the army 
in the Caucasus. 

Two more days by train took me, utterly 
intoxicated with joy, to the town of my birth, 
where most of my relatives lived. My par- 
ents' home was a little farther on. 

At the station, I pulled my cap low over 
my face, and thought that sufficient precau- 
tion against detection, as I did not suppose 
I should be readily recognized after having 
been absent for years. Indeed, so free did I 
feel, away from all the reminders of exile, 
that I did not fully sense the need of caution. 

As I was leaving the station, I met an old 
man, who addressed me by name. I was in 
consternation. This might mean that I should 
be cast back into Dante's inferno just when 
I was about to enter Paradise. 

The delight of my relatives on my ap- 
pearance at the old homestead, was eclipsed 
by grief when they learned that I came to 
them a refugee. As for myself, I was weary 
in body and in spirit. My sweet aged grand- 
mother perceived this; and after a time, she 
took me authoritatively by the arm — though 




Mount Ushba, in the Caucasus Range — Nearly as 
High as Pikes Peak 



(179) 



180 ESCAPE FflOM SIBERIAN EXILE 

she was a wee body in comparison with my 
six feet one — led me to her quiet apartments, 
and left me there to sleep. 

It is said of the disciples of Christ, that as 
they waited for Jesus in Gethsemane, they 
slept "for sorrow." (Luke 22:45.) I slept 
in the ancestral home, whether "for sorrow" 
or from exhaustion, or both. 

I woke at the sound of footsteps in the 
hallway. One of our ministers who was in the 
village at the time, had come, by request of 
my uncle and grandmother, to consider with 
me plans for my future. Behind locked doors, 
we discussed the question. 

To remain in the home of my relatives 
would jeopardize* not only my own safety, 
but also theirs, and even that of the church. 
The course I had had in mind from the first 
— that of seeking concealment with a friend 
who lived in the foothills not far away — was 
declared to be impracticable. The suggestion 
was made that I cross the Caspian into Per- 
sia; but I had no ear for such a scheme, as I 
knew of the revolutionary spirit prevalent in 
Persia, the taking over of control of that 
country by Russia, and Turkish invasions of 
the territory. 



A WOLF S PASSPORT 181 

With an air of conviction, the venerable 
man told me to make a note of the following 
names: Irkutsk, Harbin, Mukden, Shanghai, 
San Francisco. Those five cities, he affirmed, 
should mark my route. 

Our interview was not long. It closed with 
earnest prayer. The expression of confidence 
on the good minister's face, and the prayer he 
uttered, seemed to raise my mind above all 
misgivings, and I unhesitatingly accepted his 
counsel, though it might appear impossible of 
execution. 

I must see my father and mother before 
starting on this long and venturesome jour- 
ney. First I went to the home of a friend a 
few miles from their home ; and thence, in 
the evening, he walked with me over the fields 
and the hills to the town where my parents 
lived. At a little bridge near their home, I 
lingered behind, in order that he might an- 
nounce my coming; for I feared that to see 
me unexpectedly would be too great a shock 
to my delicate mother. 

My parents were more startled than re- 
joiced at my coming. Father could speak 
but a few words, and mother seemed unable 
to fathom the mystery of my presence. 



182 



ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 



There were wearisome days and nights be- 
hind me, and I looked forward to similar ones 
to come. Therefore I begged that we sleep 
as much as we could that night, specially as 
the subjects we should be most likely to talk 
upon were painful ones to us all. Accord- 
ingly, with the benediction of my father's 
prayer, we went to our rest. 




CHAPTER XIII 



THE BEGINNING OF A PERILOUS 

JOURNEY 

BEFORE the first sign of dawn, we were 
all astir; for I must leave ere the day 
should betray me. My mother's heart evi- 
dently was crushed with grief. If my family 
could have had any assurance that I should 
accomplish even so much as a tenth of the 
proposed journey, they would have had hope 
in reference to the remainder; but I might 
not even be permitted to leave the first sta- 
tion, and to be detected would imply a fate 
far worse than death. 

My success in evading capture hitherto, was 
no proof that I should not be seized by the 
next gendarme I met — except as it denoted 
the protection of One against whom all the 
minions of the czar could not prevail. 

The farewell was agonizing. My father 
led the way through the garden, and to a 
footpath along the bank of the Kuma. Then, 
with the friend who had come with me, I 
passed out into the darkness. Equally dark 
my future loomed. Yet I faced it with hope- 
fulness and even enthusiasm. 

(183) 



184 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

Though we kept as far as practicable from 
public roads and human habitations, we neces- 
sarily went near a little village; and the dogs 
bayed at us with a noisiness that was no aid 
to secrecy. 

The morning had barely conquered the 
night, when we arrived at the friend's home. 
I spent the day in hiding there, intending to 
take an evening train back in the direction 
from which I had fled. 

I did not dare examine the contents of my 
purse, for my short stay with my family had 
not given them opportunity to get more for 
me than they had on hand ; but I knew that I 
had enough to buy a ticket to Irkutsk, about 
four thousand miles away. To ask for one to 
take me farther would be to arouse suspicion; 
for Irkutsk is not a great distance from the 
frontier, and any man between eighteen and 
forty-five years of age was forbidden to leave 
the country in time of war. 

When I called for a ticket, the agent's 
face seemed to ask, "How is this, young 
man?" But he raised no objection. As the 
train bore me away, I was glad to see the 
lights of the station vanish behind me. Each 
danger passed was a cause of rejoicing, al- 




(185) 



m 



186 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

though new dangers awaited me just ahead. 
I had not been long on the train when it 
stopped — for what reason, I did not know. 
Soon a gendarme, lantern in hand, and ac- 
companied by a subordinate, came into the 
compartment I occupied. He looked about, 
then came^o me, and ordered his subordinate 
to search my baggage. This being done, he 
raised his lantern to my face, held it there for 
several minutes — so it seemed to me — turned 
and left the car, and the train moved on. 

I cannot explain this incident, except as I 
explain to my own heart many incidents of 
that journey — on the supposition that divine 
power interposed to ward off harm. 

My route lay through Ufa, the first town 
at which I had stopped on my flight. That 
locality might reasonably be regarded as 
particularly unsafe for me, and I kept very 
unobtrusively to my corner. After crossing 
the Ural Mountains into Siberia, I felt less 
apprehensive. 

Although, in temperate climates, this was 
the season of reddening leaves and harvest 
ingathering, winter had already begun in Si- 
beria. The country was covered with snow, 
and glistening with frost. 



BEGINNING A PERILOUS JOURNEY 187 

After eight days of continuous travel, I 
was nearing Irkutsk. The question as to how 
I should be able to go on from there, was still 
unanswered. Even had I had enough money, 
I could not have bought a ticket to cross the 
border. Moreover, where nearly every young 
man was in military uniform, my civilian garb 
must attract undesired attention. Then, too, 
I had no passport; and even before the war, 
hundreds of times had I been required to 
show my passport. 

A wounded military engineer tried repeat- 
edly to engage me in conversation, and I 
could not well repulse him altogether. He 
may have guessed my dilemma; for though 
no allusion was made to it, after a while, he 
offered to sell me his uniform and his railway 
pass. He, being wounded, and having his dis- 
charge, could travel in citizen's attire without 
difficulty; and he could renew his pass in any 
large city. The one he wished to sell me was 
for Vladivostok; and to reach that place, the 
railway crosses Manchuria. Thus the pass 
would take me over the boundary line. 

Was this young soldier actuated by pity for 
me? Or was his purpose only mercenary — 
to get the few rubles he asked of me? Or 



188 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

would he lead me into a trap, and then de- 
liver me up to arrest? I did not fear to trust 
him, and assented to his proposition. 

The safest place to conclude our arrange- 
ments, I thought, would be the home of our 
minister in Irkutsk. I had his address; and 
when we arrived at that city, we took a sleigh 
— there were many such for hire at the sta- 
tion — and the small Siberian horse that drew 
it, galloped wildly away. 



CHAPTER XIV 



IN DISGUISE 

THAT there should be more religious lib- 
erty in Siberia, the land of exile, than in 
imperial Russia proper, which pretended to 
allow its subjects freedom of conscience, was 
strange; but that such was the case, I was 
reminded by the sign on the residence of the 
minister we sought, and on the chapel where 
he presided — simply an announcement of the 
services. Such a sign could not have been 
seen in all Russia, on a building used by 
members of a "sect." 

As the minister was not at home, I briefly 
told his wife of my errand. She became much 
perturbed; but I did not think that remark- 
able, considering how dangerous was the un- 
dertaking to which she was asked to become a 
party. Then she informed us that there was 
a police officer in an adjoining room. I shall 
not say that I was undisturbed at the news. 
Our hostess explained that the officer was 
there to get details in reference to her son, a 
young man of military age, who was attend- 
ing one of our missionary training schools in 
western Europe. 

(189) 



190 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

My soldier companion and I quickly de- 
cided to go away for a while, and return 
after the officer had gone. 

We had passed only the first crossing, when 
out from the crowd emerged a familiar figure 
— the former superintendent of our Cauca- 
sian Mission. He also was a victim of the 
malice of "Orthodox" priests, and had been 
exiled to this city. He was not imprisoned, 
but must report daily to the guard, as must 
all exiles. I made an appointment to meet 
him later at the parsonage from which I had 
just come. Then we separated, for the ever 
needful purpose of avoiding observation. 

We met again as agreed. Our hostess and 
the superintendent regarded my project as a 
very daring one. Yet, as they could suggest 
no other, they gave me such encouragement 
as they could. 

When the exchange of clothing between the 
soldier and me had been effected, he returned 
with me to the station, pointed out the train 
for wounded soldiers which was to leave for 
Vladivostok that night, and left me. 

I began to feel concerned because of hav- 
ing no appearance of being wounded. I had 
discovered in my baggage a strip of white 




(191) 



192 ESCAPE FKOM SIBERIAN EXILE 

muslin, which doubtless some member of my 
family had put there. The one who did so, 
did better than she knew. I found a place 
where I could not be seen, and made of the 
muslin a sling for my right arm. This would 
not only afford an apparent reason for my 
being on the disabled soldiers' train, but it 
would also exempt me from the military re- 
quirements relative to saluting, and thus from 
much exacting scrutiny. 

I had to wait two hours at the station. I 
was an object of some suspicion, or else I in- 
terpreted mere curiosity as suspicion. Be 
that as it may, I affected, as best I could, a 
forbidding sternness, and boldly paced the 
platform. 

When the first signal was given for the de- 
parture of our train, a crowd of wounded 
soldiers began to gather. Some of them had 
but one arm, others only one leg, while still 
others were wounded in various ways. 

As is common in Russia, there was much 
crowding and jostling in boarding the train. 
I could not manage my luggage very well 
with my one free hand. When finally I was 
seated, the soldiers in the same car began to 
assail me with questions as to what regiment 



IN DISGUISE 



193 



I was of, what battles I had been in, how I 
had been hurt, and many other particulars. 
I had not expected such a fusillade, and 
was unprepared for it. Any attempt to an- 
swer must have involved me in endless em- 
barrassments. Instantly I bethought myself 




Railway Station at Irkutsk 

to feign deafness. This was not an easy thing 
to do without a moment's forethought. Still, 
my questioners became convinced that I had 
lost my hearing, and perhaps also my mind to 
some extent. A few tried speaking loudly to 
me, even shouting in my ears; but they soon 
wearied of such efforts. There was specula- 
tion among them as to the probable cause of 
my condition — shell shock, exposure, or what. 

13 



194 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

A man of middle age, who was in the same 
compartment as I, assumed a paternal guard- 
ianship over me, and prevented others from 
annoying me with attempts at conversation. 
He himself communicated to me, largely by 
signs, any information he thought might be 
of value to me. 

When the conductor came into our com- 
partment, I gave no intimation, at first, that 
I saw him; but my self-appointed guardian 
acted as spokesman for me. I had been un- 
easy over the question of whether my pass 
would be accepted, or instead, would get me 
into trouble; and when the conductor marked 
it and returned it to me without hesitancy, I 
felt like shouting for joy. Had the fact be- 
come known that although wearing a military 
uniform, I was not a soldier, the consequences 
would have been such as I was loath to con- 
template. 

Next morning, our train began to crawl 
sluggishly up the mountains on the southeast 
side of the renowned Lake Baikal, whose 
waters are nearly a mile deep. At the time 
when the railroad was under construction, it 
is said, temporary tracks were laid on the ice, 
and heavy trains run over them. 




1^ 
< 

< 

pq 

O 
O 

iz; 

t-H 

o 
W 



(195) 



196 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

The country in that vicinity is exception- 
ally beautiful, contrasting strongly with the 
dreary steppes over which we had come. 

About noon of the first day after we left 
Irkutsk, as we stopped at a station, ''Sisters 
of Mercy" appeared, and led us to an eating 
room maintained for disabled soldiers. There 
long tables were spread with food, principally 
soup and bread. 

The "sisters" were very attentive to us; 
and after I had finished my meal, some of 
them volunteered to rebandage my arm. I de- 
clined their aid, but one was persistent. She 
wished to take me to a surgeon in the hospital 
booth. I was becoming solicitous as to how 
I could get away from her, for discovery that 
my arm was not injured would be sure to lead 
to grave developments. 

At that juncture, the engine whistle gave 
warning that the train was about to start. It 
was a joyous sound to me. I still had time 
to obtain some cotton batting, and with it I 
thoroughly plugged my ears. This made the 
role of deaf soldier easier, as I then really 
could not hear much. 

The practice of such deception was not 
pleasing to me, nor was it inspired in any de- 



IN DISGUISE 197 

gree by love of adventure, but only by the 
hope of thus procuring freedom from the 
tyranny of a despotic government. 

At another station where we stopped, I 
saw in a bookstand a copy of the works of the 
Caucasian poet Lermantov. As his home had 
been near my own, his writings had a double 
charm for me ; and I purchased the book, and 
read from it on the train. That volume of 
Russian verse afterwards played a part I did 
not plan when I bought it. 

Three days of travel brought us almost to 
the Chinese frontier, the next critical point in 
my journey, I had thought that if we reached 
the frontier at night, I might leave the train 
and cross afoot unseen; but it was midday 
when we drew near the line, and to pass the 
border police unobserved would be impos- 
sible. Besides this, when the train approached 
a station, the doors were locked, and they re- 
mained thus until we were well under way 
again. 

I had come to the limit of my resources. 
In fact, my success thus far was not attrib- 
utable to any shrewdness on my part. At 
times when my actions had been such as to 
avert suspicion, they were not premeditated, 



198 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

but were prompted by an impulse of the mo- 
ment. Now my frightened heart could only 
call out to Him who had kept me hitherto. 

Gendarmes came on board to examine the 
passengers. I heard the clank of their sabers. 
Unless Heaven should interfere, I should 
never again know freedom. Still, I believed 
that I should soon be with friends in Har- 
bin, although I had no conception how this 
could be. 

Two of the officers came to my compart- 
ment, and one of them brusquely demanded 
my papers. In the right-hand pocket of my 
trousers was my railway pass. I knew that 
it would be of no use to me now; yet, as it 
was the only military paper I had, involunta- 
rily I reached for it. My right arm being 
bound up, I essayed to thrust my left hand 
into my right-hand pocket. The gendarme 
put a stop to my awkward endeavor by say- 
ing that badly wounded soldiers need not 
present their papers. Then he went on to 
the next compartment. 

I was dumfounded. There had been pass- 
ing before my mental vision pictures of life- 
long imprisonment, with all its agony and 
torture. Now I could scarcely comprehend 




(199) 



200 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

that I had escaped the fate which, only a 
few moments before, had appeared to be in- 
evitable. 

The next town at which we stopped was 
Manchuria, the first station in the province 
of the same name. I was much elated at 
having passed the most dreaded ordeal of all, 
the crossing of the frontier. 

Our train went no farther; but with the 
few soldiers who had not left it before we 
reached the border, I was transferred to an- 
other train. They were to continue across 
Manchuria and into Russian territory again. 
I did not intend to do so, but hoped to escape 
from the train at Harbin, about two thirds of 
the distance across. 

Over the door of the compartment that I 
occupied on the new train, was a sign which 
indicated that the occupants were wounded 
soldiers. Gendarmes going through the train, 
saw the sign, and merely glancing into the 
compartment, went on without calling for 
our papers. Thus another peril was passed. 

The journey through Manchuria furnished 
scenes new to me. With real enjoyment I 
watched them from my window. The dark 
shadow that had hung over my road to free- 



IN DISGUISE 201 

dom was now largely dissipated, and notwith- 
standing difficulties that I knew I must yet 
meet, I felt wonderfully light-hearted. Had 
I known all that was still before me, I should 
hardly have had courage to face it. 

Late in the evening of an early November 
day — the fifth since we left Irkutsk — our 
train arrived at Harbin. A horde of vehicle 
drivers, mostly Manchurians, beset the pas- 
sengers as they alighted; and I hastily put 
my luggage into an empty carriage, thinking 
that in the confusion, I might get away with- 
out being seen by the guard. Straightway 
one of them accosted me, asking why I was 
leaving the train. I answered that I wished 
to stop a short time in the city ; but he showed 
no inclination to let me go. 

His attention was diverted for a moment; 
and seizing my baggage, I dashed away into 
the night and the fog. When I had gone a 
few yards, I came upon an unoccupied pub- 
lic carriage. Into this I threw my luggage, 
and signaled the driver to hurry away. 

I had the address of our Harbin mission, 
but could not make the Manchurian cabman 
understand it. The only course left to me 
was to make inquiry of some one, though I 



202 



ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 



knew that in so doing, I might leave behind 
me a clue that would lead to my capture. 
But no alternative was left me. 

The pedestrian of whom I inquired, di- 
rected me to the street I wished to find, and 
the cabman took me to it ; but when I reached 
the house, I learned that our mission had 
moved. Where it was then located, the new 
tenant did not know. 

There was apparently no way of finding 
the location, without exposing myself to too 
much publicity. Even to be on the streets at 
such an hour, was to attract the notice of the 
police. I reentered the carriage, not knowing 




A Mountain Road in the Altai Region 



IN DISGUISE 203 

what else to do, and ordered the driver to go 
ahead, although I could not tell him where 
to go. 

Soon I saw a boy of ten or twelve years 
walking along the street, and I felt impelled 
to ask him if he knew of any Seventh-day Ad- 
ventists in the city. He replied that his fam- 
ily wxre such. This surely was an astounding 
coincidence, as there were but few of our 
people in Harbin, and there were few persons 
on the street that dark, rainy night. 

I took the boy into the cab, and he guided 
me to his home. The father was in prison be- 
cause of his religious activities. The mother 
and the other children were alarmed at the 
appearance of a soldier — which, of course, 
they took me to be — in their home at that 
hour; nor were they reassured when I im- 
pulsively threw aside the sling that had bound 
my arm, exclaiming that I had masqueraded 
long enough. The sense of security that I 
felt at being among those who I knew would 
not report me to Russian officials, naturally 
caused a reaction from the tense secretive- 
ness of weeks past. 

My explanation half dispelled the fears of 
the family, yet I overheard the mother saying 



204 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

to the elder son that he had better go for Mr. 
Gardishar. I was surprised to hear the name, 
for it was that of a former schoolmate of 
mine, and I so stated to the good woman. 
In response to the message sent him, he has- 
tened to meet me; and his greeting left no 
distrust in the mind of my involuntary host- 
ess. Her hospitality thereafter was wholly 
voluntary and cordial. 

I gladly put off my military uniform, with 
its lying epaulets, and donned my accustomed 
clothing. 

More than formal thanks were offered to 
Heaven that night for my deliverance from 
danger. Then I slept in peace, although to 
the charges previously held against me by the 
czar's government was now added that of 
desertion. 



CHAPTER XV 



HIDING 

HARBIN, being a Russian city, but on 
foreign soil, was policed even more 
strictly than were the cities of Russia. In 
the hotels, a newcomer was^ asked to show 
his passport before taking off his overcoat. 
Residents were forbidden to harbor any per- 
son for one night even, without first notifying 
the police; and failure to comply with this 
requirement made the offender liable to any 
consequences that might befall his guest. 

Under these circumstances, the hospitality 
accorded me by our people in Harbin meant 
much both to them and to me. Those who 
lived in rented quarters must keep the owners 
of the premises in ignorance of my presence, 
unless these could be trusted not to divulge 
it, and were willing to risk the results. 

The morning after my arrival in the city, 
I was invited to the home of our former pas- 
tor there, and was told that the owner of the 
house had consented to my coming — a con- 
sideration not to have been expected of a 
stranger, in view of the responsibility in- 
volved. The pastor himself was in prison be- 

(205) 



206 ESCAPE FKOM SIBERIAN EXILE 

cause of his labors in connection with a church 
that was not indorsed by imperial Russia. 

As far as practicable, I avoided being seen 
by others than our own people. Of some of 
the latter, I asked counsel in reference to my 
future course; for how to get out of Harbin 
was as perplexing a question as had been that 
of getting in. The railroad was Russian, and 
therefore not to be considered. Whatever 
other method of travel I might choose, I 
should be almost certain of arrest at the 
bridge I must cross in leaving the city, if I 
succeeded in getting even so far; and to come 
into contact with the police meant for me 
shackles and a dark dungeon. 

One of the friends told of a man who some 
time before had aided several persons to leave 
Harbin; and it was proposed that his help be 
sought in my behalf. I caught at this straw, 
and one of our number was delegated to con- 
sult with the man. 

The securing of a passport was the main 
object. To attempt this by irregular means 
was not regarded by the subjects of old Rus- 
sia as it would be by loyal citizens of a free 
government. Yet, I would not have agreed 
to such a scheme, if I had had the confidence 




(207) 



208 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

which I should have had in Him who had al- 
ready brought me out of straits from which 
no human trickery could have rescued me. 

The man to whom I now looked for aid was 
a Swiss, the Harbin representative of a large 
foreign shipping company and of other im- 
portant business interests. When I was in- 
troduced to him, he manifested a desire to 
help me, but said he had better turn the 
matter over to a Polander in his employ, a 
political exile. 

This Polander was much less prepossess- 
ing than his employer. Still, he claimed to 
be able to get a passport for me, and urged 
that I accompany him to see the police officer 
with whom he should have to deal. This I 
did not think a safe thing to do, but I did ad- 
vance some money to him, which was declared 
to be needful. 

Day after day I must have tiresome inter- 
views with this fellow, he promising, each 
time, that I should soon have the desired 
document, and making a pretense of explain- 
ing why he did not yet get it. There were 
also repeated requisitions for money. 

I was disposed to cease the negotiations al- 
together ; but friends advised that I defer such 



HIDING 209 

action for a time at least. We looked upon 
the Swiss as the responsible agent in the 
transaction; and his position with respectable 
business concerns, added to his appearance 
of sincerity, offset in part the unfavorable 
impression made by his "pool fellow." 

In the meantime, another plan was sug- 
gested. One of our church people told of a 
Manchurian who might act as a guide to take 
me on my way by horseback. This man was 
brought to me. He was shrewd looking, and 
knew the country well; but he was not one I 
should have trusted, except for the assurance 
of friends. 

However, I was persuaded not yet to give 
up the effort to get a passport, that I might 
travel by train. 

Eventually I seemed compelled to yield to 
the importuning of the Polander, that I go 
with him to see the police officer with whom 
he was treating. My signature was said to be 
the only thing lacking to obtain the passport. 

While we were going to the office, the old 
trickster presumed to coach me on the an- 
swers I should give to questions that might 
be put to me. As I would not resort to 
falsehood, his coaching was superfluous. 

14 



210 



ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 



I was admitted to the presence of the offi- 
cer I had come to see, the Polander being left 
waiting in an anteroom. This officer informed 
me that he understood I had lost my pass- 
port; but he said that before he could issue a 
new one for me, he must telegraph to my 
home address, in order to verify my state- 
ments as to name, place of residence, and so 
forth. 

I knew that such a message sent to the 
police authorities in my native district would 
mean my apprehension as an escaped exile. 
I was in dismay, suspecting that I had been 




Street Scene in Harbin, Manchuria, Where Russians 
AND Manchurians Alike Are at Home 



HIDING 211 

betrayed to the police, and that they simply 
thought to extort more money from me, or to 
work up their case against me more fully, be- 
fore letting me know their purpose. I won- 
dered whether I should even be permitted to 
leave the room, except as a prisoner. 

At this stage in the proceedings, another 
officer came in, looked me up and down, then 
went out. Still I tried to preserve a sem- 
blance, at least, of composure. I said to the 
officer with whom I had been speaking, that 
I hesitated to assent to the delay of telegraph- 
ing, as a reply might be long in coming, but 
that I would take a little time to think what 
I had best do. Then I decorously but quickly 
left the room. 

In entering the building, I had passed 
through four doorways, each of which was 
guarded. Had I now believed that I should 
be allowed to pass out alone, I should have 
endeavored to evade my uncongenial com- 
panion, and get away from him altogether; 
but it seemed more feasible to let him go with 
me to the street, and rid myself of him as soon 
as I could afterwards. 

When out of doors once more, I felt as if 
I had just emerged from a prison. But the 



212 ESCAPE FROM SIBEEIAN EXILE 

Polander tenaciously kept with me. We were 
still together when we met an officer of the 
secret police. Undoubtedly the company I 
was in was sufficient to mark me as a sus- 
picious character; and without any question- 
ing, the officer bade me go with him. The 
old man protested, perhaps because he was 
unwilling to give up hope of wringing the 
very dregs from my purse ; but he was warned 
that if he did not immediately "lose himself," 
he would be taken along to headquarters. 

Again, evidently, I was on the way to a 
prison cell, and not now as a religious non- 
conformist only, but as a fugitive from "jus- 
tice" of the old Russian brand. The jail was 
in sight, only a few rods away. 

The officer intimated that three hundred 
rubles might keep me out of it. I told him I 
did not possess that much money. He then 
reduced his figures to two hundred fifty ru- 
bles, and again to two hundred. I had not 
that amount, nor was there any way I could 
get it, unless possibly some of my fellow 
church members of but a few days' acquaint- 
anceship should be moved to supply it. 

I requested that the police officer go with 
me, and I would undertake to borrow the sum 



HIDING 213 

named. He objected, saying that if I did 
not have the cash on my person, we would 
go on to headquarters; but before we reached 
that dread structure, he consented to do as I 
wished, and we took a cab to the home of one 
of my stranger friends. 

When we came to the house, I left the cab, 
but the officer cautioned me not to go out of 
his sight. I rapped at the gate; and when 
the host came to open it, he was not slow to 
comprehend my situation. 

How severe a mental struggle it may have 
cost this good man to decide to advance me 
a sum that must seem so large to a person 
of his means, was not evident from his man- 
ner ; and after reentering the house for a few 
moments, he again appeared, got into the car- 
riage with us, and directed that we be driven 
to a bank. 

While he was in the bank, my custodian 
and I waited in a restaurant near. As we 
ate, or pretended to eat, our borshtch — cab- 
bage soup — the officer sought to convince me 
that he was not a bad fellow. It was custom- 
ary, he affirmed, for police officers to get 
money in this manner. He even professed a 
disinterested regard for my welfare, and 



214 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

asked that I write him if ever I reached a 
place of safety. But I was content to bid 
him a final farewell when our deal was closed. 

Not many months later, the amount this 
generous brother had lent to me was returned 
to him, and I had the satisfaction of receiv- 
ing acknowledgment of the payment. 

I was little concerned as to how the spoils 
were divided among the police officers, the 
old exile, and the ostensibly benign and hon- 
orable business man. I realized that not on 
such as these, nor on such measures as they 
employed, ought I to rely. I had subjected 
myself to danger, loss, anxiety, and compro- 
mise, in the attempt to get a passport, though 
a passport would have been useless without 
the special care of Him who had brought me 
over thousands of miles without a passport. 



CHAPTER XVI 



A FUTILE ATTEMPT AT FLIGHT 

IN harmony with the advice of friends, I 
now engaged the Manchurian guide who 
had been recommended to me, to go with 
me by horseback to Mukden, about four hun- 
dred miles south, not far from the boundary 
line between Manchuria and China proper. 
This young man could speak the Russian lan- 
guage well enough to act as interpreter for 
me, as well as guide, I having no knowledge 
of Chinese. 

Separated from Harbin by the railroad, is 
the little Manchurian village of Fudziadzian. 
There the Russian police had no jurisdiction; 
and I made my way thither, that I might be 
the safer while preparing to continue my 
flight. I afterwards learned that the Rus- 
sian police did not always let lack of author- 
ity deter them from seizing one they wished 
to make a prisoner. 

To reach this village, I must pass through 
a field where all sorts of offal had been 
thrown, including dead bodies of animals and 
even of human beings. There were open 
sewers, and almost every conceivable source 

(215) 



216 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

of vile odors, which were more in evidence 
the nearer I came to the gate of the village. 

My first business in the village was to visit 
the horse market. I found it crowded with 
dealers and customers, nearly all Manchuri- 
ans. There was much bickering between the 
two classes, the owners praising their animals, 
and asking exorbitant prices for them, while 
prospective buyers berated them, and offered 
absurdly low prices. 

When a dealer took the hand of a customer, 
and drew over it his long sleeve, that meant 
he was ready for business; and the price he 
then fixed was the lowest he was likely to 
accept. Any one who did not come to busi- 
ness after clasping hands with a dealer, put 
himself in great disfavor. 

Adjacent to the market was a road where 
horses could be tested before a deal was 
closed. And there was need of testing them, 
for all the tricks of the professional horse 
trader were used to palm off worthless ani- 
mals. Many of these animals had been 
drugged to make them appear spirited and in 
good flesh; some were balky, others vicious; 
few were strong enough for the jaunt I had 
in prospect. 



A FUTILE ATTEMPT AT FLIGHT 



217 



Negotiations were so protracted by the cir- 
cumlocution necessary in dealing with the 
owners, that I was obliged to spend three 
days in selecting two horses, together with 
saddles, riding whips, and feed, and getting 













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A Native of the Far Northern Province of Yakutsk 
WITH His Saddle Pony 

the required papers made out. Any one 
found in Manchuria with a horse in his pos- 
session for which he cannot show a deed duly 
signed and witnessed, is liable to arrest as a 
thief. 

My guide took me to the home of a family 
of his acquaintance, with whom I could stay 
at reasonable cost until we were ready to start 



218 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

on our journey. My repugnance for every- 
thing Asiatic, I here resolutely put aside, 
knowing that contact with Manchurians on 
the way would be unavoidable. 

A young son of this family had worked 
for a number of years on a steamer running 
on the Sungari (Black) River from Harbin 
to northern Siberia, and had learned to speak 
Russian well enough to be understood. He 
did me valuable service by drawing a map of 
the route I was to take. 

As the river was then frozen over, I could 
cross on the ice, instead of having to face the 
Russian guards at the bridges. My appar- 
ently fruitless sojourn at Harbin had pre- 
vented my beginning the journey before the 
ice formed. 

In starting on my way, I had to go through 
old Harbin again; but coming from a Man- 
churian town, in company with a Manchurian, 
and being so bundled up as not to be readily 
distinguishable from one of that race, I was 
unnoticed by the police. Soon we were out 
on the open highway, and started off on a 
gallop. 

The guide proved to be a poor horseman; 
and before we were well under wav, his horse. 



A FUTILE ATTEMPT AT FLIGHT 219 

being ill managed, fell into a ditch, laming 
himself, hurting the rider, and dislodging the 



In half an hour, we were once more in our 
saddles. The roads were poor, but that did 
not impress me as a serious handicap. 

A short distance outside the city were sta- 
tioned the last of the Russian guard. I 
passed them without being accosted, doubtless 
because they mistook me for a Manchurian. 
I was beginning to feel jubilant at getting 
away from Harbin; but my guide was not at 
all jubilant. He lagged far behind; and when 
I waited for him to overtake me, he dis- 
mounted and led his horse. He complained 
that he was suffering from the effect of his 
fall, and that furthermore he was not dressed 
warmly enough for such weather. I induced 
him to remount, and we rode on for a little 
while. 

Again and again this performance was re- 
peated, the fellow becoming continually more 
spiritless. He talked of difficulties ahead — 
uncertainty of securing feed for our horses 
or food for ourselves, and what not; said he 
was sick; and finally could not be prodded 
any farther. 



220 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

What could I do? To go on alone with 
the two horses was out of the question, and I 
could ill afford to abandon one. Then, too, 
to travel without guide or interpreter would 
be to attract much attention in making pur- 
chases and inquiring about the roads; and if 
I had a horse to care for, there would be less 
opportunity for concealment than if I had 
none. 

I determined to return to the horse market, 
sell the animals, leave my baggage with 
friends,* and start out afoot. 

Though chagrined at the failure of my 
recent efforts, I was not disheartened. 

I reached Fudziadzian again without dif- 
ficulty; but the sale of the horses and equip- 
ment was not easily effected, and the amount 
I received when I did sell them was much less 
than I had paid. 

After disposing of them, I ventured into 
Harbin, to spend one more night with the 
faithful friends there. Undeniably this was 
a rash thing to do; but the encouragement 
found in association with these good people, 
outweighed the danger incurred. 



CHAPTER XVII 



AFOOT AND ALONE 

"fTT^ALL and small" were on their feet 

Jl early the next morning, and soon I 
was ready for my pilgrimage. I dared not 
encumber myself with heavy clothing, though 
I knew that I should suffer from lack of such. 

I carried a strong walking stick that a 
young son of the family had provided for me 
— a fortunate provision it proved to be — and 
in my small traveling bag was some European 
food to supplement the unpalatable Chinese 
food I should purchase on the way. 

As I was about to start, my hostess pro- 
posed that I take with me a Chinese Testa- 
ment that she had. I was very reluctant to 
add so much weight to my luggage, but the 
good woman insisted ; and I acquiesced, solely 
in deference to her wishes. Erelong that vol- 
ume served a purpose which neither she nor 
I had foreseen. 

Mukden was my intended destination. That 
city was next after Harbin on the list given 
me by the good man who had marked out for 
me the seemingly reckless journey from the 
Caucasus to America. It was also on the onlv 

(221) 



222 



ESCAM I^EOM SIBERIAN EXILE 



practicable route for me to follow — if indeed 
any route was practicable for a person in my 
circumstances. 

, The friends I was leaving could not express 
any hope that I should ever see Mukden; for 
the road led frequently across the railroad, 
which was under Russian control, though on 
Chinese territory, and was guarded by Rus- 
sian soldiers. 

I left a message to be sent to my parents in 
case no word came from me inside of three 
weeks, as a longer silence would indicate that 





/ 

WTrti "^'^Tff [Lit" : liimi mtg 1 1 1 1 1 nil II ^'^iKai^l^l^^HI ^iH^^^BJi^ 



A Makeshift Tent on the Russian Steppes 



AFOOT AND ALONE 223 

I had been either captured or killed. Of the 
two fates, I dreaded the latter least. But I 
did not expect either. I set out assured that 
I should yet accomplish what I was under- 
taking. 

On my horseback trip with the Manchurian 
guide, I had learned the safest road by which 
to leave the city, and I followed it "without 
let or hindrance." The wind was icy cold. 
My breath made a fringe of frost on my 
camel's-hair skating cap, which was drawn 
about my face, as a protection from both cold 
and observation. 

As the last of the Russian factory buildings 
were disappearing from sight, I turned to 
bid farewell to what had been to me a city of 
perplexities. Then, as I hastened on, I saw 
coming toward me a company of men who I 
concluded were Russian soldiers. To elude 
them, I turned off onto the prairie; and they 
did not molest me. They may have supposed 
me to be a Manchurian; or, like many of the 
imperial Russian soldiers, ill fed and dissatis- 
fied, themselves little better off than prisoners, 
they may not have been averse to letting one 
in similar plight better his condition if he 
could do so. 



224 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

As I passed through the first village, the 
inhabitants displayed much curiosity. It is 
not improbable that they took for granted I 
was a fugitive; for only a few days before, 
several Russian soldiers had attempted to 
escape from Harbin, but had been captured 
not many miles away. 

Snow was falling fast; and after leaving 
the village, I could not clearly distinguish 
the road. The nearness of the railroad was 
evidence that I was not far out of the way; 
but otherwise I should have preferred that 
the railroad had not been so near, because of 
the likelihood of encountering some of the 
guards. 

Presently, turning my face to one side to 
avoid the cutting wind, I saw a Manchurian 
coming behind me. He was not particularly 
prepossessing, being bleary-eyed, like many 
of the Manchurians, as a result of the smoke 
from their open fires. But I was glad of the 
prospect of being with some one who knew 
the road, and he seemed equally pleased to 
have company. He could speak a few words 
of Russian; and these, augmented by signs, 
enabled us to carry on a fragmentary con- 
versation. 



AFOOT AND ALONE 225 

Soon the man signified that he was going 
to take a footpath that branched off from the 
road. I asked what town lay in that direction; 
and he replied, Shwang-chang-puo. When I 
told him I was going to the same place, he 
took me by the arm, and drew me out of the 
road, making me understand that the trail 
over the prairie was preferable, being more 
direct. Certainly it was more desirable for 
me, in that it was farther from the railway. 

On the highway, we often met caravans of 
Manchurian carts, with solid wooden wheels, 
each cart drawn by four to eight mules. They 
were hauling beans, millet, peanuts, and other 
foodstuffs to the railway for shipment. 

In a Manchurian village, one meets more 
dogs than human beings. The dogs are a 
hungry looking lot; and with a few bits of 
bread, a stranger can often, though not al- 
ways, make friends of a host of them. 

In the towns that we passed through, I ob- 
served bright-colored paper ornaments in 
front of some of the buildings. My traveling 
companion informed me that these buildings 
were inns. I was soon to become more fa- 
miliar with such places than was agreeable. 
About the middle of the afternoon, being 

15 



226 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

chilled and hungry, we stopped at one of 
them, and called for a warm drink. The 
proprietor replied that he had none, nor did 
he have much food to offer, except roasted 
peanuts and a sort of bean paste; but these, 
with bread from my bag, made a fairly satis- 
factory lunch. 

A score or so of villagers who sat about the 
place, inquired of my fellow traveler whether 
I was a runaway soldier. They examined 
me closely, even feeling of my clothing, but 
exhibited no ill will. 

Cold as we had been out in the wind, we 
were colder in the inn; and after our lunch, 
we traveled on. My good comrade could not 
keep up with my accustomed pace, possibly 
in part because his Chinese shoes were not 
well adapted to walking. However, he knew 
the country well, and often led me on short 
cuts across the fields and through some of the 
numerous little cemeteries, thus saving me 
many milejs of travel. 

Twilight overtook us in a heavy snow- 
storm, which so hid the road that soon we 
lost it utterly. Still I urged the Manchurian 
along, even though we did not know where we 
were going; for there was no shelter in sight, 




H 
W 

o 



> 

I— I 
o 

I 

O 

\4 

N 
Eh 

o 
(^ 
H 

H 



(227) 



228 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

and thinly clad as I was, I should have per- 
ished if I had not kept moving briskly. 

Taking the course of least resistance, we let 
the storm drive us. In a short time, we came 
to a small clump of trees, among which were 
a few graves with rude stone monuments. 
Shielded from the storm by trees and monu- 
ments, we rested there for a little while, and 
tried to make out the directions. Then we 
staggered ahead. 

After about half an hour, we came upon a 
road. We did not know whether it led in the 
way we should go; but we followed it, and 
before we had gone far, it brought us to a 
little village. We did not seek lodging there, 
for we felt impelled to push on. The one 
thing we wanted was, to learn the route. We 
met a young man on the deserted streets, and 
of him we made inquiry. He graciously went 
with us some distance, then gave us the in- 
struction we needed. 

We went some miles farther, when, through 
the darkness and the storm, the outlines of a 
building took form before us, only a few yards 
away. It was an unwelcome sight; for I rec- 
ognized the structure as the barracks of a 
Russian railway guard. A soldier passed 



AFOOT AND ALONE 229 

within reach of my hand. Happily, the night 
and the snow rendered me indistinguishable 
from an Asiatic. 

Not long afterwards, we reached a small 
settlement, and we thought best to stay there 
for the night. Each house was inclosed by a 
mud wall eight or nine feet high. We sought 
to enter one of the yards, but the gate was 
locked. Another and another were the same. 
At last, we found one that was unlocked; but 
according to Manchurian usage, we must not 
approach within about two rods of the house 
unbidden. My guide called to the inmates, 
making known our desire to find lodgings. 
A voice from within replied that there was no 
room for us there. 

We went outside the wall again. After a 
time, a cart came in sight, drawn by several 
mules. This we followed, and in its wake, 
gained entrance to an inn. The proprietor 
protested that his house was already full; but 
eventually we persuaded him to make room 
for us. 

The inn, like most of the country houses, 
was built of bamboo, and plastered with mud. 
The window panes were of paper. For some 
minutes after entering, I could hardly breathe, 



230 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

because of the smoke from the big kettle that 
answered as a stove, and from the pipes of the 
occupants of the room. These pipes were 
made of bamboo, with clay bowls, and varied 
in length from less than a foot to more than 
two feet. 

Place was assigned us on the platform that 
must do duty as table, chairs, and beds for the 
entire company. Soon the cook appeared, 
and prepared over the fire something akin to 
noodles, afterwards serving it in small bowls. 
Cook, food, and dishes all looked very un- 
clean; but I had had no warm food since 
morning, and my vigorous boyish appetite 
still stayed by me. So, sitting cross-legged, 
like the Manchurians, I made my first attempt 
to manipulate a pair of chopsticks — thus af- 
fording considerable entertainment for the 
spectators. 

Weariness and the warmth of the room 
made me feel disposed to sleep; but my suc- 
cess in that direction was not enhanced by the 
chatter of the other guests, nor by the thinness 
of the rush mat which was all that modified 
the hardness of the clay platform. More- 
over, I was too chilled to sleep. My thought- 
ful guide, observing my restlessness, asked 



AFOOT AND ALONE 231 

our host for a blanket for me; and a piece of 
an old bed comfort was brought. It gave 
inadequate protection from the cold drafts 
that came through the crevices in the walls; 
yet in time I fell asleep. 

It must have been. about three o'clock the 
next morning when I awoke because of the 
cold. We arose, paid the innkeeper the few 
cents charged for our supper and lodging, and 
took our leave. We hoped to reach Shwang- 
chang-puo before the next night. 

The storm had abated, though there was 
still a strong wind. The moon looked down 
full-faced on the snow-covered region. Its 
light was sufficient to guide us, but the snow 
hid the road. 

The wind went through my clothes as if 
they had been gauze. I soon became almost 
numb from cold. To combat it, we ran. 
From my eyes, smarting from the effects of 
the smoke at the inn, tears streamed down my 
cheeks, and froze there. 

The conditions truly were not exhilarating; 
but I asked the pitying Father for courage 
and strength, and thanked Him for the kindly 
guide He had sent me, without whom I should 
have been much worse off. 



232 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

As we hurried along over the creaking 
snow, I learned from my fellow pedestrian a 
few Manchurian words, and this little knowl- 
edge was afterwards very useful. 

After some hours, our road crossed the 
Russian railway, near barracks; but presum- 
ably the guard saw in us only two natives, 
for we passed unchallenged — except for the 
dogs, which followed us a long way. 

As they turned back, we saw ahead of us a 
wayside shrine, which denoted the probable 
proximity of a village. Within the shrine was 
a dish of rice intended for the spirits that were 
supposed to sojourn there, but appropriated 
by the birds. The religion of the Manchuri- 
ans has to do principally with evading evil 
spirits, and appeasing those which cannot be 
evaded. 

In the village not far beyond, we stopped 
at an inn to rest and warm ourselves. The 
inmates were too intent on their smoking, or 
too stupid, to heed our coming or going; and 
I was relieved at being unobserved. 

I was more relieved when, later in the day, 
we came in sight of Shwang-chang-puo ; for 
traveling was becoming very difficult, my 
muscles being stiff and sore. 




(233) 






234 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

To reach the city gate, we had to pass 
around a long wall. The shelter of this wall 
was most welcome. 

Compared with other Manchurian towns 
I had seen, this one seemed ancient, but neat 
and orderly. 

It lies near the Russian railway. Soon 
after entering it, I saw a European on the 
street ; but as he apparently did not notice me, 
I felt little misgiving on his account. Later 
I espied a Russian soldier, and this was 
enough to admonish me that I should exercise 
caution about being seen. 

We went into a small eating booth, where 
the warmth was most gratifying to our be- 
numbed bodies. What my palate said to the 
unaccustomed foods, I could not hear, because 
of the louder cries of hunger. 

Before I left Harbin, some of my friends 
there told me that in Shwang-chang-puo there 
was a native evangelist of our faith, who 
spoke a little Russian. I had taken his ad- 
dress, thinking he might help me to plan for 
the remainder of the journey. But in that 
strange Oriental city, how could I search out 
any one, without making myself dangerously 
conspicuous ? 



AFOOT AND ALONE 235 

I decided to continue my journey; and my 
volunteer guide declared his intention to go 
along, although his only motive, so far as I 
could learn, was the purely unselfish one of 
looking after my welfare. 

We started toward the south gate. Though 
we could converse but little, yet we smiled 
encouragement at each other; and I needed 
encouragement, for I was nearly exhausted. 

As we were passing the last compound in- 
side the wall, the guide excitedly caught hold 
of me, and pointing to the gateway, ex- 
claimed, ''Yesua, Yesua!" Then he pulled 
me into the yard, where there were several 
natives. Their bearing was genial, and the 
premises were exceptionally clean. 

This was a Christian mission. My guide 
had discovered the fact by the sign over the 
gateway; and his exclamation "Yesua" was 
an attempt to speak the name ''Jesus." The 
native evangelists here knew the one I had 
wished to find, and they directed us to his 
home. Half an hour's walk, with some in- 
quiry by the way, brought us to the house. 

A middle-aged man of amiable appearance, 
with his wife, welcomed us. Portraits that 
had bjeen given to me in Harbin, of some of 



236 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

our missionaries in China, were an indication, 
to this good couple, that I had been associated 
with our people; and they appeared as happy 
to have me in their home, as I was to be in 
so hospitable a place. 

My guide, seeing that I was now among 
friends, essayed to leave; but he was not per- 
mitted to go until he had received all due 
courtesies. 

My host and hostess had been but a few 
years out of heathenism; yet the contrast be- 
tween them and the non- Christians about 
them, was very marked. The little group of 
converts they had gathered, also gave proof 
of a marvelous transformation of character. 

In our training school that this evangelist 
and his wife had attended, the students were 
not taught European customs in lieu of Ori- 
ental, except in so far as the latter were ob- 
jectionable. Consequently the house in which 
I found myself a guest was not unlike those 
about it, except for its cleanliness. 

The same was true of the food and clothing 
of the family. The staple articles of diet were 
millet, cabbage, and peanuts. To make the 
food palatable for myself, I was obliged to 
add salt, much to the amusement of the house- 




(237) 



238 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

hold. The Manchurians, instead of salting 
their food in general, eat with it very salty 
cabbage. 

My host and some of his friends seemed 
delighted with a chalk talk that I gave them, 
the former translating to those who did not 
understand any language I could speak. My 
singing also evidently pleased them. I could 
not pretend to an equal enjoyment of the 
dirge-like Manchurian music, all of which 
sounded alike to me, whether the occasion 
was a funeral or a wedding. 

I applied myself to the study of Chinese, 
in order that I might better make my wants 
known when I should resume my journey. 

The evangelist begged that I remain with 
him, learn the language, and do evangelistic 
work among the people. This proposition 
was not without appeal to me; but I knew 
that even my brief stay there was hazardous, 
for though I was in Chinese territory, any of 
the numerous Russian soldiers seen on the 
streets would not on that account hesitate to 
seize me, should they have a hint of my 
identity. 

After a few days' recuperation, I started 
out once more on my perilous trip. My host 



AFOOT AND ALONE 239 

proposed to accompany me a day's walk, to a 
village where some people lived who were 
studying the Bible with him. 

In going through the city, I met, near the 
gate of the government building, my recent 
guide. He wore a uniform, having obtained 
a civil service commission. Though he could 
not well go with me now, he manifested the 
same brotherly interest in me as before. 

The evangelist and I, after a walk of some 
twelve miles, reached the tiny village that 
we had set out for. Manchuria is much less 
densely populated than China proper, and its 
villages are fewer and smaller. The popula- 
tion of the one to which we were going was 
made up almost wholly of the various branches 
of one well-to-do family. They were con- 
verts of an evangelical church; and though 
they were not so well instructed as those I 
had just left, still their homes were a tribute 
to the work of Christian missions. 

I shall perhaps not be criticized for assert- 
ing that the converts of our own missions give 
greater evidence of the transforming power of 
the gospel, than do those of any other mis- 
sions I have visited — and I have visited those 
of many different churches. 



240 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

We were received cordially by the villagers, 
and later Avere requested to conduct an eve- 
ning service. Again I resorted to the use of 
crayon sketches to atone for my inability to 
speak the language. This manner of teach- 
ing quite captivated the little audience, and 
they too would fain have had me take up my 
permanent residence in Manchuria and teach 
the gospel. 

In truth, what I saw, during this journey, 
of the influence of Christianity among heathen 
people, fully convinced me that foreign mis- 
sion work is worthy the best efforts of any 
young man. The world offers nothing to 
surpass it. 

The patriarch of the little clan made us his 
guests for the night, and all the men of the 
settlement came and slept with us. That was 
in accordance with their ideas of social ethics. 

The morning was creeping over the wall 
of the compound when I bade them adieu, and 
once more started out, staff in hand. The 
evangelist walked a little distance with me, 
then I went on — alone. The full meaning 
of that word "alone" is not easily learned. 

In less than two hours, I had lost the road ; 
but I found it again after a time. Then I 




(241) 



16 



242 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

discovered that I was too close to the railway, 
and must quickly take a different route. 

This program was often repeated. The map 
made for me by the young man at whose home 
I stayed while preparing for the journey, was 
of much benefit to me, but it did not contain 
sufficient details; and when I endeavored to 
obtain information of Manchurians along the 
way, not only was I hampered by ignorance 
of their language, but some apparently found 
malicious pleasure in giving misinformation. 

But though I often missed my way, I 
seemed never to miss any of the dogs. They 
assailed me in droves. In such cases, I plied 
my walking stick with good effect. 



CHAPTER XVIII 



ENCOUNTERING RUSSIAN 
GUARDS 

REAOHING a village late in the eve- 
ning, cold and tired, I was besieged, in 
the inn, by a curious crowd, who felt my 
clothes, my pockets, and my traveling bag. 
Some spoke a few words of Russian, and they 
began to question me. They gave me no 
opportunity to sleep. 

Then I thought of the Chinese New Testa- 
ment that I had unwillingly put into my bag 
at Harbin. I learned that some of the men 
could read, and I asked one to read aloud to 
the company. Soon he had attentive listen- 
ers. I have seldom witnessed more reverential 
attention to the Scriptures, in any land. 

Notice being thus diverted from me, I lay 
down on the brick bed, made a pillow of my 
shoes, and with no covers, tried to sleep. 

Repeatedly thereafter, in other villages, I 
employed this device to get a little rest. And 
I needed the rest, for I walked many miles 
each day. 

In shunning roads near the railway, more 
than once I paid for my caution by being 

(243) 



244 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

obliged to "back track." Often I climbed 
hills to get a view of the roads. Sometimes I 
could find no cue to the route, and could only 
pray Heaven to lead, and blindly wander on. 
And verily Heaven heard. 

The increasing cold, though it added to my 
discomfort, was an advantage to me, in that 
it caused ice to form thicker on the rivers ; and 
now I could cross on the ice without fear of 
its breaking, and thus could keep clear of the 
bridges, with their Russian guards. 

Sometimes, in crossing thus, I had difficulty 
in scaling the bluffs on the farther side. Nor 
did I escape the Russian soldiers altogether. 
In a little village that I came to at one time 
as I left the river, one of these dreaded rep- 
resentatives of the despotism from which I 
was fleeing, caught sight of me. 

I went into an eating house, knowing that 
Russian soldiers in uniform were prohibited 
from entering Manchurian buildings. He 
stopped at the doorway, and ordered food 
brought to him. Would he wait there to catch 
me as I left the place? 

I ate with relish the dumplings served for 
me, notwithstanding the prospect awaiting 
me outside, and the smoke and dirt within. 



ENCOUNTERING RUSSIAN GUARDS 245 

My meal finished, I ventured on the street 
again, but saw no more of the soldier. 

My feet had become so sore from walking, 
that I could hardly spur myself on. More- 
over, not far outside the village, I found 
myself almost completely shut in by swamps 
and high bluffs. The only way I could proceed 
was by a long bridge, at the farther end of 
which was a Russian military post. Retreat 
would give no assurance of safety, and would 
be most disheartening. I decided to go ahead. 

With feigned nonchalance, I started toward 
the bridge, taking the precaution to draw my 
knit cap close about my face. The natives 
gazed at me in obvious astonishment, rightly 
surmising, no doubt, that I was a fugitive, 
and marveling that I should walk into the 
very arms of my captors. 

I met only one soldier, and he merely 
glanced carelessly at me as I passed. Thus 
I went on unhindered. 

This escape from what had seemed like 
inevitable capture, gave me new hopefulness; 
and despite the crippled condition of my feet, 
I hastened forward. 

According to my map, the next city was not 
so far but I might possibly reach it that night ; 



246 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

and the cities furnished more secure hiding 
places than did the small villages. But as 
darkness began to steal over the snowy fields, 
and the city was not yet in sight, I knew that 
I could not see to keep the road much longer. 
Then I determined to follow the railroad; for 
as I had so lately passed a military post, 
there would not be another for some miles. 

Natives warned me not to stay out after 
dark, for fear of bandits. Still I went on. 

Out of the darkness came sounds as from 
a human abode. There were lights also. I 
went toward them, but my advance was soon 
blocked by a wall. I hunted for a gateway, 
and found one, but it was closed and locked. 
Likewise another and still another. Finallv 
I came to one that opened to an inn, and 
there I entered. 

Before I had begun to eat the typical Man- 
churian supper that was put before me, the 
news had spread that a European was in the 
inn. Men and boys flocked into the dingy 
room, and pressed about me. But by that 
time, I had become accustomed to such a 
performance; and in spite of it, I slept. 

When I awoke, the air of the room was suf- 
focating. My head ached, and my eyes were 



ENCOUNTERING RUSSIAN GUARDS 247 

inflamed by the smoke. Cattle had been 
brought into the room, that they might be 
protected from the cold, and to add to the 
warmth of the inmates. 

To get away from these surroundings, I 
started out into the night, though my feet 
were so sore and my joints so stiff that I 
could not make my usual headway. Nor could 
I see the road; but by means of my staff, I 
felt my way along the railroad. 

The figure of a human being emerged from 
the darkness. I was certain that he was a 
guard; but the darkness, though it did not 
conceal me, did conceal my race, and I was 
permitted to pass. 

Then a horseman was heard near. It is not 
improbable that he was a member of a band 
of Mongolian marauders. But again I was 
unmolested. 

At dawn, a fog enveloped the country. 
Seeing only a few feet ahead of me, I came 
unexpectedly upon a barrack. Several dogs 
rushed out, snarling ominously. Fearing not 
so much the dogs as the soldiers, I beat ahead 
as fast as I could; but the brutes kept after 
me. I still think with regret of the walking 
stick I broke in pieces on them. 



248 



ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 



Before the soldiers located the din of the 
dogs, I had contrived to get away, and was 
hidden by the fog. Thus the same fog that 
had betrayed me into danger, delivered me 
from it. 

In about an hour, I was at the gate of the 
city. People were coming out to their work 
in the fields. With them were mules, don- 
keys, water buffaloes, cows, goats, sheep, and 
dogs. It was a satisfaction, after my solitary 
night walk, to see human beings again. 




A Mongolian Plainsman 

He may almost be said to spend his life on the back 
of his horse. 



ENCOUNTERING RUSSIAN GUARDS 249 

Our evangelist at Shwang-chang-puo had 
given me the address of a Christian shop- 
keeper in this city, and I readily located him. 
When I mentioned the evangelist to him, his 
face expressed genuine pleasure, and he re- 
ceived me with a cordiality that was both 
Oriental and Christian. 

I was taken to a guest room that was in 
strong contrast to the inns at which I had 
stopped. Instead of straw mats, there were 
beautiful carpets. The raised platform was 
provided with bedding, which was rolled back 
against the wall in the daytime. The prem- 
ises entire were marked by the neatness that 
invariably distinguishes the homes of Chris- 
tians from those of the heathen. 

After a few hours' rest, I started out again, 
edging my way through streets teeming with 
buffalo and mule carts, and with men smok- 
ing long pipes. 

The next day, the road again led across 
the railway. I saw no way of avoiding it ; for 
in all other directions, high hills closed me in. 

Two Russian soldiers accosted me, demand- 
ing my passport. As I had none, they talked 
together as to what was to be done with me. 
It was suggested that perhaps I was a run- 



-y. 



250 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

away soldier. They themselves were experi- 
encing the hardships of a soldier's life under 
the rule of the czar, and they may have had 
a fellow feeling for one whom they supposed 
to be fleeing from such a life. Whatever their 
reason, they signaled me to pass on. 

To what influence, natural or supernatural, 
I owe my deliverance from dangers through- 
out that journey of several thousand miles, I 
am willing the reader shall judge. 

More and more my aching feet protested 
against going farther. I wrapped them in 
cloths, and tried to keep up my daily mileage ; 
but I could not now make more than fifteen 
or twenty miles a day. 

Once a Manchurian invited me to ride in 
his cart, and I did so; but it jolted so vio- 
lently, because of the irregularities in the huge 
wooden wheels, that I was not sorry when our 
routes diverged, and I must again walk. 

Many hundred miles still lay between me 
and Shanghai, the last milepost on the trans- 
Asiatic journey mapped out for me. Yet, 
most of the time, I felt confident that I should 
ultimately reach it. 

One morning, after traveling several miles 
before sunrise, I came to a town where there 



ENCOUNTERING RUSSIAN GUARDS 251 

was a Christian mission, as I had been told by 
the Christian merchant whose guest I had 
been some days before; but there was little 
ground for thinking that I could find it. 

I went into an inn — a comparatively clean 
one; and as many of the guests of the night 
before had already gone, I hoped to have 
better opportunity to rest than ordinarily. 
But the heat of the room, after the severe cold 
outside, caused a painful prickling of my 
flesh. Then, too, I was alternately feverish 
and chilly. 

A Manchurian who was in the room, seemed 
very benevolently disposed, and did what he 
could for my comfort. I endeavored to tell 
him of my quest for the mission; but my very 
limited vocabulary apparently did not suffice 
to make me understood. 

The man left the inn. Soon afterwards he 
came back ; and beckoning me to go with him, 
he took me to a mission building where two 
young natives were in charge, who I learned 
were Catholics. They were very amiable. I 
ate with them the most appetizing meal I had 
eaten in Manchuria. 

The head teacher spoke some English; and 
in the course of our conversation, he told me 



252 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

that his assistant, though his services were of 
much value, appeared to be unable to give up 
the use of intoxicants. The converts of the 
Catholic missions, in some instances, use in- 
toxicants more than do the heathen. Yet I 
could but acknowledge the good effect of their 
teaching in the line of neatness. 

This head teacher's knowledge of English 
enabled him to give me more information in 
reference to my route than any one else I 
had met. He told me that the next town on 
the railway was a Russian military fortifica- 
tion. Hence I knew that there was need of 
being most discreet. 

As I was leaving the mission, a heavy cart 
drawn by five horses came along. Accepting 
this as a guide, I followed it till I reached a 
place where the road had been flooded, and a 
wide field of ice spread before us. The cart 
then turned to the north. As my route lay 
in general to the south, I kept on across the 
ice. Footprints showed that others had gone 
that way before me. 

Having crossed the ice and climbed the 
bank beyond, I found a great stretch of sand. 
There was no trail, walking was difficult, no 
sign of a shelter could be seen, and night was 



ENCOUNTERING RUSSIAN GUARDS 



253 



not far away. The hills beyond were covered 
with a network of brush and roots of fallen 
trees, which signified that all this space was 
under water when the river was high. 

I struck off to the northwest, to get away 
from the sand wasteland after some time, I 




One of the Scenes of Greatest Danger 

came to a road that I thought might be the 
one I should take. Then on ahead I caught 
sight of the cart that I had followed from the 
city. Again I trudged along in its wake. 

We were now going toward the west, 
whereas I should go south; but to the south 
was a high bridge, and I dared not go near 
it, because of its Russian guard. 



'-^ 



254 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

Continuing to the west, I crossed the river 
on the ice, and took the road that wound up 
the steep bank on the other side. Presently 
I came upon a little village in a nook of the 
hills. Shielded as it was from the cold wind, 
it was a real bit of summerland. Men were 
threshing grain by driving horses over it. 
The scene was an attractive one, except for 
the hogs and the dirt — both prominent fea- 
tures of Manchurian life. 

This was the end of the road. What should 
I do now? I had gained but little ground all 
the afternoon, and I did not want to go back 
over the route I had been traveling. I started 
across the fields, hoping to reach a road that 
would lead in the direction I ought to go. 

Without warning, I found myself at the 
edge of an old Russian fort. Hot and cold 
chased each other up and down my spine. 
The fort evidently had been abandoned; but 
not far away I could see a garrison of sol- 
diers, and they could see me if they should 
glance that way, though probably they could 
not see that I was a European. 

I scrambled down a steep bank on the 
farther side, and came out on a road. There 
I overtook an old man, and of him I inquired 




A Village Priest 

He ekes out his small income by tilling his small 
piece of ground. 



(255) 



256 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

the way to the next city. He pointed for- 
ward; and I pushed on, to find a place to 
stay that night. Ahead of us I could see 
some men driving mules loaded with brush, 
and soon I caught up with them. My lacer- 
ated feet and tired muscles rebelled against 
being driven any farther; but I rallied all 
my reserve energy, and hastened along the 
darkening road. 

After a time, I came up with a caravan of 
Manchurians taking produce to market. I 
thought best to join them, in order to get 
entrance to the city when we should reach it; 
and they raised no objection. I chafed at 
the slowness of their gait, yet I did not think 
that I should do well to go on alone. 

We met a company of Manchurian sol- 
diers; but I was not in the danger from them 
that I was from Russian soldiers. 

Over hills and through valleys we went, 
and finally, rounding a hill late at night, came 
into a town. I helped the men of the cara- 
van to put up their horses, then went with 
them to a long, barn-like building where they 
were to spend the night. 

There was a Manchurian military training 
camp in this town, and many of the soldiers 



ENCOUNTERING RUSSIAN GUARDS 257 

were in the inn gambling. They were quite 
friendly; but their very friendliness was 
wearisome, for I greatly needed rest. I took 
from my bag my Chinese New Testament, 
and asked one of the company to read aloud. 
This he did, while the others listened intently 
— and I slept. 

Before another dawn, I was again on the 
road. About noon, I must cross the Russian 
railway, not far from a military post; and I 
could see that a little way ahead, the road, 
winding about, again crossed the track, this 
time close to the barracks. I stopped at a 
country inn to consider what to do. Even 
there I was not safe, as soldiers from the post 
were likely to be about. 

There was no way for me to go except 
ahead, and ahead I went. As I approached 
the crossing, I saw that an officer and a civil- 
ian were on guard. The former halted me, 
and asked where I was going. 

Instantly the thought came to me that I 
should appear unafraid, but make no reply. 
The officer then told the civilian to repeat 
the question in German, and he did so. Still 
1 was silent, though I understood him per- 
fectly. 

17 



258 



ESCAPE mOM SIBERIAN EXILE 



Next the interpreter spoke in English — 
very poor English, however. I replied, in 
English, that I was an evangelist, and had 
been visiting a mission station, and was now 
on my way to the next town. This was all 
true, though it was not the whole truth. 

I suspect that the interpreter did not un- 
derstand English well enough to know what 
I had said, but disliked to confess his ig- 
norance to his superior. He recited to him, 
in Russian, an absurd story about my having 
been sent on a tour of inspection of some sort. 




A Small Portion 
OF THE Nizhni Novgorod Fair 

The diversity of goods offered for sale at this great fair, 
formerly held annually, gave it widespread fame. 



ENCOUNTERING RUSSIAN GUARDS 259 

The audacity of the fiction and the per- 
plexity of the officer so diverted my mind 
that I almost forgot, for the moment, the 
peril of my situation; and doubtless my un- 
concerned manner had to do with convincing 
the guard that I had all due authority back 
of me. I must have looked more like a hobo 
than like any sort of inspector. 

The guard seemed not to think of asking 
for proof of my commission, or even for my 
passport. After a few moments' hesitancy, 
he gave me leave to go on — and I did not 
need to be urged. 

To some, this might seem like a mere novel 
adventure; but it was much more than that 
to me. My freedom and even my life were 
at stake ; and when the incident was over, and 
I realized what a position I had been in, I 
was so overwhelmed I could scarcely stand. 

As I passed through the next village, an 
innkeeper hailed me, remarking that the sun 
was already setting. But I went on. Dogs 
attacked me in such numbers and so viciously 
that I almost used up my second walking 
stick on them. 

Walking was torture to my bleeding feet, 
and I knew that I could not keep up much 



260 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

longer. Still I was resolved not to stop until 
I had passed Kwanchengtze, the terminus of 
the Russian railway, which I was sure must 
be a place of special danger, because of the 
strong guard stationed there. A few miles 
beyond that was Changchun, where the Japa- 
nese railway begins. 

The beauty of the night was an inspiration. 
I lost all trace of the road, but kept the gen- 
eral direction by the aid of the stars. 

Down deep ravines, across marshes, and 
through bamboo thickets, I struggled on. I 
heard dogs barking, and shots fired. Whence 
these sounds came, or whether they had to 
do with me, I did not know. One thought 
dominated my mind — Changchun. I did not 
have strength to think of anything else. 

About midnight or later I came to higher 
ground. The air was colder, the stars were 
hidden, and a sleet beat in my face. I did not 
know which way to go. Across the desert of 
snow, I saw carts coming toward me. I 
waited till they came along, and then, inquir- 
ing of the drivers, learned that they were 
going the same way I wished to go. For 
hours I followed them along the winding 
road. After the lights of the Russian rail- 



ENCOUNTERING RUSSIAN GUARDS 



261 



way terminal came in sight, the cartmen 
turned off on another road; but I continued 
toward the station. 

I almost held my breath as I passed the 
buildings, each moment expecting that a 
watchman would step out from the shadows. 
But I saw none; and at daybreak, I reached 
the first station of the Japanese railway — 
Changchun. 

Knowing that the Japanese were allied 
with the Russians, I kept away from their 
part of the town, though it looked much more 





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262 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

inviting than the Manchurian section. I en- 
tered an inn, in hope of finding a place to 
rest; but it offered no such boon. 

I had walked continuously for thirty hours, 
and felt that I could go no farther. The 
pain from the torn flesh of my feet was sick- 
ening. In my extremity, I even contemplated 
attempting to board a train for Mukden, al- 
though that would have implied almost cer- 
tain arrest. I went to the station, but found 
that no train was to leave until late in the 
evening. 

Praying for guidance, again I sought a 
place where I might rest. Suddenly my at- 
tention was attracted by the sign, "British 
and Foreign Bible Society." Those words 
meant to me renewed hope. 



CHAPTER XIX 



A HAPPY TRANSITION 

THE elderly Chinese in charge of the es- 
tablishment could not understand what 
I said to him; but he tried to make me com- 
fortable. 

Later a young man came in, who spoke a 
little English; and when, with him to act as 
interpreter, the older man learned that I 
wished to find a quiet place to spend the 
night, he mentioned an English mission in 
the outskirts of the town, and volunteered to 
take me there. Early in the evening, we set 
out. It was about as much as 'I could do to 
keep up with the nimble Oriental. 

On reaching the mission, we learned that 
the superintendent was absent; but an Eng- 
lish gentlewoman welcomed me very gra- 
ciously, and as supper was in readiness, I was 
taken directly to the dining room. There I 
was introduced to a guest, Mr. Morgan 
Palmer, a man perhaps thirty-five or forty 
years old. 

As I thought best to give a brief account 
of myself before accepting further hospital- 
ity, I told, in few words, of my exile, my 

(263) 



264 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

endeavor to reach America, and my need of 
rest. Our hostess assured me that I was free 
to remain where I was as long as I might 
desire to do so. 

Mr. Palmer was restless; and soon he rose 
abruptly, came to me, seized me by the arm, 
and announced that I must go with him. His 
residence, he said, would be a more suitable 
place for me, being less public. 

Two horses — one of which he had ridden, 
and a servant the other — stood at the door; 
for he had been on the point of leaving some 
minutes before I arrived, but had yielded 
to an invitation to stay for supper. He af- 
terwards expressed his conviction that the de- 
lay was decreed by Providence. 

Despite the remonstrances of our hostess, 
he hurried me out of doors, designated which 
horse I should mount, and we rode off. I did 
not feel quite positive as to whether I was to 
be taken to a retired place to rest, as rep- 
resented, or landed again in a dungeon. 

After a ride of some miles, we stopped in 
front of a large gate. Guards stood at at- 
tention on each side. Mr. Palmer remarked 
that they were not ''black angels" — a term I 
had used in speaking of the Russian prison 



A HAPPY TRANSITION 265 

guards — but his private attendants. In the 
compound, servants took our horses, and 
waited upon us. 

The house was an old Manchurian struc- 
ture, not elegant, but interesting. My host 
ordered a bath prepared for me, and some of 
his own clothes substituted for my worn and 
soiled ones. 

After supper, I observed that servants were 
improvising a small bed — for me, I sup- 
posed; but instead, it was for Mr. Palmer, 
and I was to occupy his bed. Protests availed 
nothing. 

My emotions were perhaps akin to those of 
Sojourner Truth, who, on the first night after 
her liberation from slavery, not once suppos- 
ing that the ''beautiful, high, white bed" in 
the room where she was put was intended for 
her, crawled under the bed to sleep. 

Mr. Palmer had been several years in 
China. In the earlier of those years, he 
taught in the Peking University; but he was 
now inspector for the government salt ad- 
ministration in the provinces of Kirin and 
Heilung-chiang. The salt industry is a gov- 
ernment monopoly, importation of that com- 
modity being prohibited. 



■^%i 



266 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

In the book ''A Thousand Miles of Miracle 
in China," is told the part acted by this ener- 
getic American in the rescue of missionaries 
in the interior of China at the time of the 
Boxer uprising. But these things I did not 
learn till later. 

The first night in that blissful haven, I 
could sleep but little, so affected was I by 
the change in my situation. I remained there 
for a fortnight. My host went about his 
business each day, leaving me to rest, read, 
or do whatever I would; but the evenings we 
spent together, and most congenially. 

Still I knew that I was liable to capture 
there, for Russians might at any time call at 
the house, or my presence might in other ways 
become known to the Russian consul. 

One evening, Mr. Palmer, knowing that I 
wished to reach Shanghai, suggested a plan 
by which possibly I might accomplish the 
journey. A hundred miles or so away, in the 
city of Kirin, lived a German who was known 
to have helped refugees to get from place to 
place. Mr. Palmer proposed to send an at- 
tendant with me to interview this man. As 
we could reach the place by the Chinese rail- 
way, a passport would not be required. 



A HAPPY TRANSITION 267 

The next morning, my host accompanied 
me to the Chinese railway station, and pur- 
chased tickets for me and the servant who 
was to go with me. The train was full, and 
a howling crowd outside were trying to get 
on board. We succeeded in getting standing 
room, but many were not so fortunate. 

Reaching Kirin, we took a carette to the 
home of the man we sought. He was quite 
affable. Because of my speaking the Ger- 
man language, he apparently took for granted 
that I was a German; and he explained that 
he was connected with an organization whose 
object it was to help fellow countrymen reach 
the fatherland. He had funds at his disposal 
for that purpose, and operated a sort of "un- 
derground railway" across the hills, with buf- 
falo carts as vehicles. He did not claim that 
this method of travel was safe. Indeed, he 
admitted that serious mishaps sometimes oc- 
curred to persons traveling thus. 

But a hitch in negotiations developed. 
When the man learned that I did not expect 
to go to Germany and join the German army, 
he lost all interest in me. 

I could only go back to Mr. Palmer's home 
and seek to evolve another plan of operation. 



268 



ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 



Mr. Palmer was disposed to write to our 
missionaries in Mukden, in reference to my 
future, and this he did. After that, he was 
obliged to be away from home for a number 
of days ; and at his suggestion, I took a horse- 
back ride each evening during his absence, 
attended by one of his servants, the darkness 
shielding me from observation. Russian-like, 
I might almost be said to have grown up on 
a horse, and I gloried in that form of recrea- 
tion. Thus I was recuperating strength while 
awaiting developments. 

Soon after my host's return, one of our 
Mukden missionaries also arrived at the place, 




Jumping the Rope 
In Russia, only skilled horsemen are accounted as men. 




(269) 



v;^ 



270 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

in response to the letter sent him. He was 
on his way to Harbin, but designed to come 
back; and it was arranged that he should 
bring my baggage along. Then I was to go 
with him to Mukden. 

It was a real trial for me to bid good-by 
to Mr. Palmer, and his regret at our parting 
evidently was no less than mine. 

In company with my latest-found friend, I 
made the journey to Mukden by the Japa- 
nese railway. At each large station, Japanese 
officers eyed us quizzically, but each surprised 
us by making no demand for passports. 

I spent the Sabbath quietly at the mission. 
Across the street was the Japanese consulate, 
and my host was solicitous lest I should be 
seen by some of the attaches. 

The officers of the mission provided me with 
funds, trusting to a satisfactory adjustment 
later — which was duly effected; and thus 
equipped, I took train on the Chinese railway 
for Shanghai, four days distant. 



CHAPTER XX 



A PRISONER OF WAR 

ANEW sense of freedom came to me, as 
I was no longer in momentary expec- 
tation of a call for my passport. The jour- 
ney was not unpleasant, the trains being 
fairly clean. About one third of the passen- 
gers were Europeans and Americans. 

As we went farther south, the contrast with 
Manchuria was marked. The population is 
much more dense, and the Chinese people are 
puny in comparison with the Manchurians. 

On reaching Shanghai, I engaged one of 
the rickshas that beset me, the coolie who 
drew it pretending to know the address I 
gave him; but he wandered about for hours 
before he found our mission headquarters. 

News of my coming had preceded me from 
Mukden. Afterwards I learned that an ex- 
perience with an impostor some time before, 
had made our missionaries here skeptical 
about the truthfulness of my representations; 
but their bearing toward me gave no intima- 
tion of their suspicions. 

As I was sinking to sleep that night in a 
room at the mission, there came to my ears 

(271) 



272 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

the words of the following hymn, sung by one 
of the residents of the mission compound: 

"Be not dismayed, whatever betide; 
God will take care of you. 
Beneath His wings of love abide; 
God will take care of you. 

'Through days of toil, when heart doth fail, 

God will take care of you. 
When dangers fierce your path assail, 
God will take care of you. 

*'No matter what may be the test, 

God will take care of you. 
Lean, weary one, upon His breast; 
God will take care of you." 

There was but one more name on the list 
of cities by which my route had been outlined 
ere I fled from my home in the Caucasus. 
That name was San Francisco. 

Most of the steamers plying between San 
Francisco and Shanghai carried the flag of 
one of the allies of imperial Russia; and on 
board such craft, I should be almost certain 
to be rearrested. That would imply return to 
exile — or death, which would be a less griev- 
ous calamity. 

In six weeks, however, a United States 
steamer, the China, was scheduled to sail ; and 



A PRISONER OF WAR 273 

I was assured that whatever might be the al- 
liances of the United States, she would not 
deliver up to a despotic power any person 
whose only offense was that he worshiped 
God "after the way which they call a sect." 
Acts 24:14, A. R. V. 

I waited the six weeks for the American 
steamer. In the meantime, the activities of 
the missionaries, and the marvelous results 
seen, deeply interested me. Some of our mis- 
sionaries urged- that I remain in China and 
join them in their work. Others compre- 
hended that I would not have there the gov- 
ernment protection that I would have in 
America. 

Aside from the matter of personal safety, 
there was another consideration that deterred 
me from accepting the proposition to remain 
in the Orient. That was the conviction that 
I ought to complete the course indicated by 
our venerable minister in the Caucasus, which 
I had been enabled to follow thus far not- 
withstanding seemingly impassable obstacles. 

Yet mission effort in China appealed very 
strongly to me. Surely there is nothing to 
which the energy and ability of a young 
person can better be directed. Just one 

18 



274 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

thought restrams me from returning to that 
country now, to devote my life to proclaim- 
ing the gospel that has wrought so remark- 
able a change in the lives of a few individuals 
among China's millions. That one restraining 
thought is — nearly two hundred million souls 
in my own native Russia who are in the dark- 
ness of Greek Catholicism, to whom I hope 
soon to go with the message of salvation. 

As the time drew near for me to leave 
China, warning came from the American con- 
sul, that I must take special precautions to 
avoid observation when I should start for the 
steamer, as the Russian consular agents would 
be watching for deserters — with whom I 
might be classed. 

Accordingly, it was agreed that, instead of 
going to the steamer station, whence a launch 
took passengers to the vessel, several miles 
out in the bay, I should go by railway to a 
suburb, Woosung, and from that point by 
motor boat to the vessel. 

Some of our missionaries went with me to 
the station where I was to take a train for 
Woosung; and while waiting there, we all 
noticed that a man was watching us. To de- 
termine whether he was spying upon me, we 




o 



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w 
o 

o 
o 



GQ 



(275) 






276 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

left the station; and soon after, we saw him 
on the street. We did not return to the sta- 
tion until we had barely time to board the 
train ; and thus we eluded the pseudo sleuth. 
It was well for me that he was not an adept 
at his business. 

From Woosung, we hastened to the pro- 
tection of the Stars and Stripes floating over 
the steamer. Most of our missionaries at 
headquarters came off to spend the evening 
with me on board, as a warm friendship had 
developed between us; and the occasion was 
the happiest I had known for what seemed 
to me like a long time. '"■- , 

When I awoke next morning, Shanghai 
was no longer in sight, and the China was 
making good headway toward the land of 
liberty. 

At about eleven o'clock, a vessel was 
sighted in the distance, approaching us; and 
when it came near, a shot was fired from one 
of its guns. As we did not stop, a shell fol- 
lowed. Our captain, though he knew that no 
craft had a right to intercept a United States 
vessel thus, could only exercise the discretion 
that is declared to be the greater part of 
valor; for our pursuer was a man-of-war, fly- 



A PRISONER OF WAR 277 

ing the Australian colors. A launch came 
alongside, bringing soldiers from the man- 
of-war; and these were stationed at various 
places aboard the China. 

The lieutenant in command of the launch 
demanded our vessel's passenger list. The 
captain demurred, but was compelled to yield. 
All the men booked as Germans or Austrians 
were put aboard the launch. Of all others, 
proof of nationality was required. 

I stated that I was a Russian; but as I 
could produce no passport, I was lowered 
into the launch, a prisoner of war, and taken 
aboard the man-of-war. 

I knew that the next move on the part of 
my captors, so far as I was concerned, would 
be to hand me over to Russia's representa- 
tives at some port near; and that involved all 
I had sought to escape by my flight. 

Resolved to make all possible effort to save 
myself from such a fate, I asked for an inter- 
view with the commander of the warship. 
This was granted; and I repeated my claim 
to exemption from seizure, on the ground that 
I was a Russian. The officer replied that he 
would find out whether I was a Russian; 
and he sent for one of his engineers, who was 
of that nationality. 



278 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

My pronunciation, together with my fa- 
miliarity with Russian geography and cus- 
toms, quickly convinced the man that I had 
spoken truthfully, and he so reported to the 
commander. Thereupon the latter, jocosely 
referring to my lack of a passport, ordered 
that I be taken back to the China, where the 
lieutenant still remained, and that my bag- 
gage be searched, by way of further establish- 
ing my status. 

I remembered that there was at least one 
article in my baggage which would help to 
confirm my contention — the volume of Rus- 
sian poems I had purchased at a bookstand 
when crossing Siberia as a wounded soldier. 

Again on board the American steamer, I 
was delivered over to my captor, who com- 
missioned some of his men to watch me till 
my baggage should be examined. As a vent 
for my agitation, I went to the piano in the 
social hall, where a matronly woman was sit- 
ting whom I had previously met; and with 
her playing an accompaniment, I sang. 

Glancing toward the doorway, my eyes met 
those of the colonial lieutenant; but he turned 
away, descended to his launch, and returned 
to his ship. Again I was semi-free. 




(279) 






280 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

This irregular procedure on the part of 
the commander of the Australian man-of-war, 
called forth fitting protest from the United 
States military authorities, and the colonial 
government made suitable amends, Ameri- 
can newspapers at the time — ^ March and 
April, 1916 — ^commented spiritedly on the 
occurrence. 

A quiet passage to Honolulu, where I spent 
the day of waiting with missionaries to whom 
1 had letters of introduction, then five more 
days at sea, and we passed through the 
Golden Gate — the gateway to freedom! 



CHAPTER XXI 



LIKE A DREAM 

SOME of our people in Shanghai had 
preannounced to friends in California 
my arrival in San Francisco. Consequently, 
when I left the dock in that city, I was not 
alone in a strange land; for as I came off 
the steamer, I was met by E. W. Farns- 
worth, whose name and genial face are known 
to many thousands of our people throughout 
the United States. 

He took me to his home in Oakland; but 
the shock occasioned by my seizure on ship- 
board, in addition to the deprivations and ex- 
posure of preceding months, had left me in 
such condition of health that after a few days, 
it was thought best for me to go to the St. 
Helena Sanitarium, up in the beautiful Napa 
County hills. 

But even there I was not in Paradise. Fel- 
low patients and others apparently thought 
to manifest their sympathy for me by asking 
me to rehearse the experiences I had recently 
passed through. I endeavored to put those 
things out of my mind, for the mention or 
thought of them was torture to me. At night, 

(281) 



282 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

I would awake in terror from a dream of 
being captured by "black angels" ; and hardly 
could I realize that I had merely been dream- 
ing. Then when I became composed enough 
to go to sleep again, it was only to live over 
once more all the horrors I had endured or 
feared since the night when I was thrust into 
a vile cell at the Odessa police station. 

A happy incident in connection with my 
short sojourn at the sanitarium was a visit 
to the former home of Mrs. E. G. White. 
As a child in Russia, I had heard of her ex- 
traordinary career, and had wished that I 
might see her. Now it was my privilege to 
become acquainted with her son and his 
family; and the friendship of these Christian 
people was indeed a comfort to me after the 
loneliness of the preceding year and a quarter. 

The parents of one of our missionaries in 
China sent a request that I visit them at their 
home in the little town of Mountain View, 
California. This I did; but there also kindly 
people gave me no opportunity to get my 
thoughts off the distressing ordeals which to 
some were little more than a diverting story. 

An earnest-faced man whom I met at 
Mountain View — Mr. George O. Wellman, 



LIKE A DREAM 283 

a member of our church there — with his dear 
little wife, seemed to comprehend my situa- 
tion; and they authoritatively informed me 
that I was to take up my abode in their quiet 
home in the outskirts of the town, and there 
remain until I had regained normal strength. 

To accept such protracted hospitality from 
strangers, I thought, would be an imposition 
on their generosity; but my excuses were 
waved lightly aside, and I was playfully told 
to obey orders. 

I did not think of this invitation as imply- 
ing more than a sojourn of a few weeks with 
these unselfish people; but eventually I real- 
ized that they had opened not only their home 
but also their hearts to me, and they have 
been to me truly father and mother ever since. 
Thus the Saviour's promise to any who 
should leave loved ones for His sake, was 
fulfilled to me. 

Erelong, too, I received letters from my 
beloved parents in Russia, in response to those 
sent to them. 

Yet I was "a man without a country." I 
was an exile still. 

Then came news which startled the whole 
world — imperial Russia had given place to 




Nicholas Romanov, the Last of the Czars, in Exile 



(284) 



LIKE A DREAM 



285 



a republic. And at the head of that republic 
was the man to whom largely I owed my re- 
moval from Siberia — Kerensky, the young 
socialist leader. 

Full religious liberty was assured through- 
out Russia. All religious exiles were now 




The Ancient City of Tobolsk, the Biblical Tubal 

To this place the Russian ex-monarch was 
finally banished. 

freed. This included Gorelic, and all our 
other faithful members who were in banish- 
ment for the Word's sake. 

I was no longer a refugee. Instead, the 
czar under whose rule I had been banished, 
was himself an exile. His place of banish- 
ment was not far from where mine had been. 



286 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

But soon followed the counter revolution, 
and the many months during which I could 
get no word from my dear people in the 
Caucasus, and knew not but they had fallen 
victims to those times of upheaval. 

Again news came — good news. All my 
family were still living. And they sent greet- 
ings to all my new friends in America. I 
hope that includes you. 

Not long after my arrival in California, 
there came to me, through my foster father, 
a privilege which I had greatly desired for 
years — that of supplementing my European 
school course with study in one of our Ameri- 
can schools; and as I write these words, I 
have just received my degree from Pacific 
Union College. 

Many times, during my imprisonment and 
exile, and while I was a fugitive, I found 
assurance in that verse from the fiftieth psalm, 
"Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will 
deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me." God 
has fully verified for me that promise of de- 
liverance; and by His grace, I will not fail 
of my part, — to glorify Him. 

The dark story that I have related to you 
is to me now much like a dream. Yet one 




(287) 



288 ESCAPE FROM SIBERIAN EXILE 

feature of it stands out clear and strong in 
my mind — clearest and strongest at those 
points where the conditions were most dis- 
couraging; and that one feature is, the bless- 
edness and reality of companionship with 
Jesus. I do not now dread any hardships 
that a wise, tender Saviour may permit to 
come upon me in the future; but infinitely 
worse than shackles and prison bars would 
be the loss of that precious fellowship. 

Now, as I prepare to return to the land of 
my birth — one of the most needy yet most 
fruitful portions of the wide gospel field — 
instead of saying "Good-by" to you, I will 
invite you to "come over and help us" — help 
us to make known to many perplexed souls 
in that great country the loving Father who 
has given evidence, in the experiences re- 
corded in this little volume, of His constant, 
personal care for each one of His children. 



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